That's What You Get
by xxCarrie-Annxx
Summary: AU.Troy's a bully, Gabriella's his victim.Sounds like the old cliche,right?Wrong!When karma catches him,he's left with nothing.His friends leave him after an accident deems him unable to walk again.Will Gabriella help him or say "that's what you get"?
1. Chapter 1

AN: As promised, this is my new story that some of you voted for me to start now in my poll about a month ago. This is based slightly off the novel Are You Alone on Pupose? by Nancy Werlin. Slightly because I only really took a few mostly small things from it, which I will reveal later on as the story progresses, but everything else is all mine. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer: HSM is not mine.

* * *

_Clutching her books to her chest, Gabriella Montez made her way through the crowded hallways of her new school. It was the first day of her sophomore year, and she was once again starting over thanks to her mother's job. However, this time, she knew it was permanent for at least the next three years. The unfamiliar faces that she passed now she would have to get used to, as impossible as that seemed._

_Entering the office, Gabriella was greeted by a friendly-looking man whom she correctly assumed to be the principal, Mr. Matsui, he had said. A young, dark-skinned girl who looked to be around her age was also in the room._

"_Gabriella, this is Taylor McKessie." Taylor smiled at her and said a quick "hi, nice to meet you" before Mr. Matsui continued. "Taylor will be showing you around. In fact, I believe that you have several classes together, correct?"_

"_Yes, sir," Taylor confirmed, turning back toward Gabriella. "You can ask me anything. I know this school like the back of my hand."_

_Gabriella nodded shyly as Mr. Matsui started talking again. "Then, if that's everything I'll let you girls go ahead and start the tour."_

_Smiling warmly, Taylor motioned for Gabriella to follow her out of the room. She felt awkward being in a new place, but she felt even stranger meeting new people._

"_I'll show you to our homeroom first," Taylor said. "We had Ms. Darbus last year, and we'll have her for the rest of our high school years unfortunately."_

"_Is she strict?" she asked._

"_She's not the worst, but that just means that we're also stuck with the same group of...students all four years," she replied, slightly hesitant as though she had to search for the right words to say._

"_So, you're saying the kids are that bad? Which ones should I look out for?" she prompted._

"_Let's just say that it's not difficult in this school to differentiate friend from foe," she explained._

_Gabriella was about to ask more questions when she heard what sounded like a locker door slam from several feet away. Turning instinctively, she gasped in horror upon seeing a fairly short girl, a freshman or sophomore perhaps, being pressed against a locker by a boy. _

"_Why the hell didn't you do it?" he roared, his hand clenched tightly around the girl's neck. Why was everyone just standing around, she wondered. Why wasn't anyone doing anything?_

_Not realizing what she was doing, Gabriella stepped forward into the now empty space surrounding the scene. She hadn't caught much more of what the boy had said, nor did she care. The girl was crying now, pleading with him to let her go._

"_Gabriella, what are you doing?" Taylor called from behind her. "Are you trying to make enemies on your first day?"_

_Gabriella ignored her and took a few more steps. Suddenly the boy turned toward her. For a moment, he looked stunned, but the look soon passed. Without thinking, he let the girl go and she scampered away. Gabriella, however, stood still._

"_What do you want?" he snapped. "This isn't one of your little girlie soap operas, so go back to whatever planet you fell off of."_

_Gabriella couldn't move; couldn't speak. She shouldn't have left Taylor's side, she realized. That was her first big mistake._

"_Are you mental or what?" he taunted. "Do I need to put it in smaller words so the mentally challenged can understand?"_

"_Bolton, leave her alone," Taylor demanded, now standing beside her. "She's new. She just wanted to see who the school dirt-bag was."_

_The boy glowered at Taylor. Gabriella backed up a few steps. She had seen many students in her previous schools who were just like him. Luckily, she had avoided becoming their target for she had moved around so often. Now, however, she knew that lady luck wasn't on her side._

_The bell rang as he started toward them. He looked at Taylor as he spoke, "You're lucky this time, but it'll only be a matter of time." Looking to Gabriella, his eyes didn't soften, nor did his voice. "As for you, I'll let you off this time, but if you get in my way again then don't expect your time here to be very enjoyable." Purposely, he brushed past her, knocking the books in her arms to the ground instantly. She prayed that this would be her first and last encounter with him, but it was a false hope.  
_

_

* * *

__Beep...beep...beep...._

Groaning, Gabriella rolled over on her bed and slammed her hand down on her alarm clock, shutting it off instantly. Groggily, she sat up and wiped her eyes. That was the third time this week she had had that dream and it was now Friday. Why did God want her to relive her awful first day of East High after she had succeeded in forgetting it? All it was was a constant reminder of her first mistake: getting in the way of Troy Bolton.

Walking to her closet, she scanned her clothes for the perfect outfit. She had two years to learn what not to wear. Skirts and dresses were definitely out. She shuddered as she remembered what happened the last time she had. White was also not a good choice. Black was the safest color, but that only led people (as in her tormentors) to believe that she was Gothic, which she clearly was not. She rolled her eyes. No matter what clothes she wore, she knew she would get mocked for it in some way, for that was the way it had been since day one.

Even though Troy had let her off the first day, he failed to mention the others, his _friends_. And, even worse, his girlfriend. Little had she known at the moment, his girlfriend, Sharpay Evans, witnessed what transpired that morning. Within a few hours, she had gone from being a nobody to the latest addition to their hit list. But, she never regretted what she had done that morning, and Kelsi, the girl whom she had saved, was now one of her closest friends.

She frowned, still looking through her wardrobe. It was the middle of November, meaning that a t-shirt was out or else she would have to wear a sweater, which was just more articles of clothing up for potential destruction.

Finally, her gaze fell upon her favorite shirt. It was a short-sleeved turquoise blouse but she felt confident that she would survive the first few minutes of school until she made it to her locker.

Pulling out that and a pair of skinny jeans, she dressed quickly and gave herself a quick glance in the mirror to make sure it looked okay. She sighed miserably. The outfit looked perfect, but she was a wreck.

Her right eye was noticeably discolored around the pupil, though not as bad as it was at the beginning of the week, but she felt that anyone who looked at her would know. That was from when Sharpay Evans, a.k.a. Troy Bolton's girlfriend, punched her on Monday for not letting her cut in the lunch line. It may have been worse had there been less witnesses.

After brushing her hair, she chose to pull it back into a loose ponytail, knowing that it didn't really matter what she looked like. No one ever noticed her, the geeky math whiz, anyway, unless they were like Troy Bolton and wanted to make her life hell.

Quickly but accurately, she masked the skin surrounding her eye with cover up. From afar, no one would ever know, she thought, satisfied. After finishing applying the rest of her make up, she grabbed her slightly tattered and worn book bag and headed downstairs. As expected, her mother had already left for work and her father was upstairs sleeping. That was the problem with having a father who worked the night shift and a mother who worked day shift, she thought. Very rarely were they all home (and awake) at the same time.

Quietly, she poured herself a bowl of cereal and ate it alone as she did every other morning. She now had exactly ten minutes to finish getting ready. She relaxed, knowing that there was no last-minute rush this morning. She had only missed the bus three times in the last two years, but each time she felt worse.

"_Why didn't you catch the bus?"_ her father would ask, aggravated after she woke him.

"_I-I...was up late working on homework. I-I'm sorry,"_ she would say. Technically, this wasn't a lie. She had been up late doing homework, though it wasn't her own. Troy Bolton and his group of friends had this thing where they "hired" a "nerd" to do their work for them which they officially started after her arrival. She didn't really consider it "hiring" since they weren't being paid unless they didn't do the work, and then they would get punished. She was primarily Troy's target, for they considered her to be the smartest, and he was considered the "best", and so they assumed it worked like that. Gabriella, however, thought that Troy chose her, not because he was the "best", but because he was the most brain dead. She snickered at this thought.

After she was finished, Gabriella rinsed out her bowl and placed it in the sink, knowing that she would have more time to wash that and whatever dishes her father left for her that day. Briefly, she turned on the television and turned to the weather channel. She groaned. It was supposed to rain that afternoon, meaning that she would probably have to reschedule her mall trip plans with Taylor and Kelsi.

Turning it off, she looked at the clock again. Two minutes left. Hastily, she grabbed her bag, not noticing the paper that slipped out the front in her rush.

* * *

As Gabriella made her way through the crowded halls of East High, she kept her eyes focused on the path before her, knowing that if her gaze strayed then she would see something she would rather not, such as Chad Danforth bullying her best friend, Taylor, as usual. She sighed, making her way to the end of the hall where her locker stood on the end.

Exactly five seconds after she reached her locker, _he_ was there; right on schedule. She anticipated the feelings as he pushed her face-first into the locker. Sometimes she felt that that was all he knew how to do was push people around.

"Montez," he started, relinquishing his hold on her. She turned to face him, her eyes full of anger and rage. The fear had mostly worn off after the first year and a half. She was used to the way he treated her...mostly. She just never wanted to do anything to set him off too badly, _then_ she was afraid. "Calculus and English homework. _Now_."

"Do I even get a _'please'_?" she remarked, reaching inside her bag. She handed him his calculus work, but his paper for English was nowhere in sight. Confused, she checked her bag again. Still nothing.

"Well?" he said, growing more and more impatient and annoyed.

"Um...uh," she stammered, panicking. She knew what happened the last time she forgot to do his work. He had cornered her after school with a few others, consisting of half of the basketball team and Sharpay. Before she could dwell on it too much, she shook it from her mind.

"Did you do it or not?" he demanded. "Quit stalling."

"I did it, but I can't find it!" she cried. "You have English third period! Just give me until then and I'll have it!"

Angrily, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, satisfied when he saw the fear surfacing in her eyes. "Have it to me by then. Or else. Would you like a repeat of last time? Do I _need_ to refresh your memory of what happens when you cross Troy Bolton?"

"N-no," she stuttered as he let go of her. Looking into his angry blue eyes, she couldn't help but wonder what all the other girls, those who had never been his bully victim, saw in him. Every other girl groveled at his feet, but she never understood why. He was a jerk; didn't everyone see that, or was it only her? "I-I'll have it."

"You better," he warned, letting her go. His hold was tight, for her arms ached long after. It was nothing new for him to leave bruises. Not a week went by that she didn't acquire at least one from somebody.

* * *

Entering her first period class, Gabriella slunk into her chair. She had no luck finding Troy's paper, and so she knew there would be hell to pay later. She could fake sick, she thought. Or ditch the rest of the day, but that would only prolong her suffering. But, it _was _Friday. He would surely forget by Monday morning, she thought, hopefully. Until his teacher asked for his assignment....She sighed. She just couldn't win.

"Hey, Gabs," Taylor greeted her, sliding into the chair beside her in the far back corner of the room. "Did Bolton rough you up too much this morning?"

She shook her head. "The worst will come after school. I think I left his English paper at home."

Taylor looked at her, wide-eyed. "You have study hall with him after this, right?" She nodded. "Um...okay, after this class, _leave_. Don't come back for the rest of the day."

"But, Tay, my dad will punish me, then I can't go out with you and Kelsi tonight," she pointed out. "Or for God knows how long."

"Gabi, would you rather get in trouble with your dad or in trouble with Bolton and his lunkhead friends?" she questioned

She groaned, but then an idea came to her. "How much do you trust me?"

"Depends," she answered cautiously, although she fought back a smile. "What are you planning?"

"You know I have my license but not a car yet," she started. "Can I borrow your car long enough to go home and get that paper? I promise I'll be back by the start of third period."

Sighing, Taylor searched through her purse until she found her keys. "You're lucky you're friends with me."

Gabriella smiled in appreciation as she took the keys. "I know."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Sorry it took so long to update (I tend to say that often if you didn't know that already) but I'm hoping to be able to focus more on this in the near future. And, also, because I'm doing some experimenting with different techniques of writing, I'm trying to make every other chapter primarily centered on Gabriella and every other chapter focused on Troy, so we'll see how that works out. But, anyway, thank you guys so much for the feedback. It is definitely highly appreciated.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

"_That's it, Troy! Ata boy!" Lucy Bolton cheered her eight year old son on as he shot the basketball through the net, making a shot. There was no interference, no one standing between him and the hoop, only is mother cheering him on as he made another shot._

_

* * *

_

Upon arriving home, Troy immediately headed towards his backyard where a basketball court stood. He thought it was a waste of money to have an entire court when most only owned a stand and hoop. However, he did admit that it was nice to show off to his friends. However, sometimes he couldn't resist thinking back to his younger years when all he had was a top hoop that stood, at it's highest, six foot, but after he outgrew it was when his father decided on the full court. He figured it was only his way of trying to buy his love, but it didn't work.

"So, dude, did little miss brainiac ever give you your work?" Chad Danforth asked him, snapping him from his thoughts. Chad had been his best friend since preschool, and he came over nearly every day after school for nearly five years. Out of all his friends, he was the only one Troy completely trusted.

"Yeah, an hour after I threatened her," he answered, grabbing the basketball. As Chad approached, Troy dribbled for a few seconds, took aim, then shot. As always, it went in perfectly.

"So, I take it you went through with it anyway?" Chad asked, catching his rebound.

"No," he answered, recalling the incident at lunch. He smirked, remembering the look on Gabriella's face. "I was going to do that regardless."

"All I saw you do was mess with her hair. What was up with that?" Chad said, taking a free shot. Like it did for Troy, the ball went straight in, not touching the rim.

"Ah, but," he started, snatching the ball. "There was something on my hand."

Chad smirked. "What might that have been?"

"Let's just say that when Montez takes a shower tonight, well, she won't have much hair left to wash," he answered.

Chad laughed at this comment. "Hair removal cream? Priceless!"

"You know it," he replied, chuckling along with him. He was about to make another shot when he heard his cell phone go off, "Sexy Can I?" playing loud and clear. Both boys knew who it was. "I....better get that," he said, reluctantly dropping the ball as he raced towards his phone. Sharpay tended to get crabby when kept waiting.

"Hey, Shar," Troy greeted her.

"Hey, babe, what are you up to?" she asked him.

"Just a little one-on-one with Chad," he answered. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," she said, although he noted that she had something planned. "Do you mind if I come over um...say around eleven tonight?"

"Of course you can," he replied, smirking as he recalled the previous night's events. They had been dating since the end of their freshman year, but it wasn't long into the relationship that they added sex into the equation. Jack, Troy's father, was clueless about it as far as he knew, but her parents had suspected it all along and resented him for it. He didn't know if Jack just didn't know or didn't care. Neither one made any difference to him.

"Great! See you then." Once they hung up, Troy heard Chad snickering and ran toward him.

"What?" he demanded.

"Nothing, it's just I don't get how you put up with her this long," he answered.

He shrugged. "She's not that bad. I mean, once she stops talking..."

"Must be good in bed then," Chad stated, nodding in approval.

"She's a vixen," he added, smirking slightly. Why else would they be sneaking to each other's house nearly every night?

"Give me her number so if she ever gets sick of you..."

"Ha ha, very funny, Chad," he said, taking a shot.

* * *

A few hours passed since Chad had left. In his room, Troy lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He did this often, just lay there, not doing anything except breathing and thinking. He did it for two main reasons, one of which was to be alone with his thoughts. The other reason was to get away from his father.

Yeah, sure, Jack was an okay parent, he thought. Troy knew he was trying somewhat to be a good single parent. Especially when, while growing up, he wasn't exactly close to him. He was more attached to his mother. Then, when she died nearly eight years ago, everything went downhill from there. He resented Jack, for he acted like she meant nothing to Troy, and that she was just a figment of his imagination, as though Jack had always been his sole provider. As though Lucille Grace Bolton never existed...

"Troy," Jack called from the other side of the door.

"What?" Troy snapped. "I'm busy." Every night, he lied to Jack, saying that he was upstairs doing homework. The truth was, he just didn't like being around Jack for too long. He didn't entirely hate Jack, just resented him. Ever since his mother's death, he tried his best to be "involved" in his life. He never took the hint that he would rather be alone.

Without asking, Jack abruptly opened the door. "I just wanted to let you know that I saw your report card today," he started. Troy sensed he was annoyed and unhappy with him, but that only satisfied him. "How did you get five C's and two D's?"

Troy shrugged. "I'm passing."

Jack sighed. "Troy, you lock yourself in your room every night for hours claiming to be doing your homework and studying. How can you not have at least one B, or even an A?"

"What's it to you?" he questioned. "It has nothing to do with you. It's my future, not yours."

"Yes, but as your father, I want to see you succeed," he stated. "It's not just about basketball. It's also about your grades. The scouts, no matter how well you play, they will look at your grades as well."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he replied, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe if you spent less time just laying there taking up space, you might actually get a B or an A," he stated. "You have motivation to do everything else."

Troy groaned as he sat up. "Whatever. Maybe if you'd stop bothering me about it I'd do it."

"Somehow I doubt that," Jack told him. "What happened? You used to be a straight-A student."

"That was elementary school," he reminded him. "You know, the school my mother taught at and could easily help me if I ever got stuck."

Jack rolled his eyes and turned away, Troy smirked, satisfied. All he had to do was mention his mother to get Jack off his back. "You know, you can come to me if you need anything."

"Whatever," he replied as Jack shut the door, thus officially ending the conversation.

* * *

The following morning, Troy woke up at quarter to six, feeling something (or someone) stirring in his bed, pressed against his bare skin. Knowing who it was, he looked down as Sharpay scrambled to find her clothes. She would have to be home in fifteen minutes.

"Troy, can you help me?" she asked him. He stared at her bare back, liking how her long, bleached-blond hair was always a complete mess the morning after. He hadn't really paid attention to what she said until she continued. "I found my panties but not my bra. Help would be nice."

Troy grinned, feeling something that felt like a bra under his back. "Under me, but you'll have to fight for it."

"I don't have time or this! It;s a ten minute drive and I have thirteen minutes to get dressed, go home, and sneak in through Ryan's window," she complained.

"Well if you wouldn't have said all that then you could've had it back by now," he stated.

Huffing, she turned to him. "What do you want, Bolton?"

Without answering verbally, Troy pressed his hands to her hips and brought her down on top of him, his hands roaming up the sides of her body as hers became entangled in his hair. Sharpay almost forgot about her clothing dilemma until she felt his hands pulling at the pink thong she had just put on. "Troy," she said, pushing his hands away. "You got what you wanted now give me my bra."

Rolling his eyes, he leaned forward on his arms, "Grab it," he told her, as she snatched it from under his back. Glancing at the clock, she gasped. She had eight minutes to get dressed and go home. Troy noticed this, too and stood up, grabbing her shirt and skirt from the floor and handing them to her.

"Oh God, I'll have to speed home!" she complained, putting her clothes on, not paying attention if they were backwards or not. Troy opened the window, knowing that it would be a faster escape route than the door. Once she was done, she fled through the window, falling on the cold, wet ground below. If she wasn't in such a hurry, Troy knew she would've had a fit.

Hearing Jack's footsteps, Troy quickly went his dresser and put on a fresh pair of boxers and pants. Just as he was finishing, Jack knocked on the door, asking, "You up, Troy?"

"Yeah, Dad," he replied, rolling his eyes as he put on a red and white long-sleeved shirt. "I'll be out in a minute."

Upon hearing Jack's retreating footsteps, Troy sighed as he put on his socks and shoes. Every morning they went through the same routine. Normal parents just let their teen get up and ready on their own terms. After all, they were supposed to be responsible. When it came to being his basketball coach, Jack treated him like a responsible adult. When it came to everything else, however, not so much.

Once he was finished getting ready, he headed downstairs to find his father making breakfast. Usually, cooking was a problem for Jack, for anything he made was either overcooked or undercooked, and so usually they either Troy ended up cooking or they went out. Most days, they either went out or ordered pizza, because even though he could, he hated cooking and felt it was a waste of his time.

"Why are you even trying?" Troy asked him. "You suck at cooking."

"A man has to learn sometime," he replied as Troy put a few slices of bread in the toaster. After grabbing the jar of grape jelly and butter from the refrigerator, he fixed them up and placed a few more slices in. He knew Jack would find a way to screw up, and so he figured he would spare him some extra work.

"Made some toast for when you mess up," he stated.

Brushing aside his comments, Jack turned to him and said, "So, Troy, what time did Sharpay leave last night?"

Looking up from his plate, Troy appeared taken aback. Jack had never said anything in the past about him sneaking out or Sharpay sneaking in. She wasn't usually a topic of discussion. "What makes you think she was even here?" he questioned.

"I can hear the two of you from my room every night she's here," he stated. "I'm not as stupid as you think I am."

"You are for just now bringing it up," he muttered.

"I just want to make sure you two are being safe and using protection," he replied.

"We use something called a condom, Dad," he stated, rolling his eyes. "I don't want kids, so no fear there."

"You might regret saying that someday," Jack said. "Those who can't have kids would love to have them. People like you who can have them tend to take that gift for granted."

"So, now you're going to lecture me for not wanting kids?" he snapped.

Jack sighed. "One of these days, you'll see what I mean."

* * *

An hour later, Troy was in school, looking around for a certain someone. It was time for his favorite school morning tradition of harassing Gabriella Montez. He hated school, but ever since she came along, he looked forward to it. He recalled her first weeks at East High; she seemed like a strong, independent young woman. It was a challenge at first to really get to her, which made it all worth while when he finally did. It just went to show that he could scare anyone into doing anything.

Finally, he spotted her with Kelsi Nielson, another of his victims. Even though Gabriella was his main target, Kelsi was easier to intimidate, thus making her an easier target. However, he enjoyed the challenge that Gabriella produced and only did anything to Kelsi when he had a reason to or just or the fun of it.

As he got closer, Gabriella turned around, her eyes blazing with anger. He smirked, knowing that his surprise must have worked, even though her hair didn't look much different than yesterday. He wondered how it could've possibly backfired.

"Did you like your surprise, Montez?" he asked, laughing as she glared at him. If looks could kill, he knew he would've been dead five minutes ago.

"You are the lowest, most despicable, cruelest, idiotic form of human being...." she stated, trailing off as he drew closer to her, too close for her liking.

Trapping her to the locker behind her, he placed his hands on either side of her head. That was when he noticed something off about her hair. His smirk grew as he swiftly grabbed a handful of hair, pulling upwards to reveal that it was a wig. Her hair, as he predicted, was little to be desired. Several areas of her scalp were completely bald, other areas were thinner than what they were only a day ago. Wide-eyed, she grabbed for the wig but he held it out of her reach.

"Give me that!" she demanded.

"No," he stated, noticing Sharpay coming towards them. "Hey, Shar, catch!"

Looking towards them, Sharpay laughed at the sight of Gabriella. "Wow, baldy, you just get uglier everyday. Love the hair. It was definitely an improvement."

Gabriella made one final lunge for it as Troy tossed the wig to Sharpay. She tried to escape his grip to go after her, but Troy grabbed her wrists, preventing her from going anywhere. However, neither noticed Kelsi's sudden disappearance.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Sorry this one took me a little bit to get up. But, the good news is that I have the next chapter pretty much done and the one after almost done, so they shouldn't take too long for me to post. Anyway, the chapter you've all been anxiously awaiting is coming up...in chapter 4. So stay tuned and thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: HSM is not mine.

* * *

_After school, Gabriella tossed her book-bag on her bedroom floor and plopped down on her bed. The day had been exhausting, and she was looking forward to a peaceful evening. This was her only time to unwind and contemplate her day, for once her parents were home, it was time to put on her daily act in which everything was perfect. If her parents knew the truth, she wasn't sure what would happen, if anything were to even happen at all._

_The house was quiet and still. Peaceful, even. She closed her eyes, wishing she could fall asleep and forget her problems for a while. She couldn't remember the last time she had a full night's rest. Although, no matter how much she wanted to sleep, there was no time for it. After the following week there was Thanksgiving break; she would get caught up on it then._

_As a memory flooded her mind, she reached up and felt her hair. It felt sticky and damp, a feeling she was unaccustomed to. Even though Taylor and Kelsi assured her that there was nothing that appeared to be wrong with her hair, she still knew she felt something on his hand when he started messing it up. All he said was "God, Montez,I __hate to say it, but you really do have gorgeous hair. it'd be a shame if something were to happen to it." She didn't quite know what that was supposed to mean, if Taylor and Kelsi said they didn't notice any difference..._

_Slowly and with a bit of reluctance, she pulled herself up from the bed and grabbed a towel and rag, not liking how her hair felt ever since he touched it. She felt dirty and disgusting, but it wasn't just her hair. Even just being around him made her feel dirty all over. She assumed his disgusting personality made those around him feel that way. He was like a disease._

_After grabbing her robe and other necessities, she went to the bathroom and stripped off her clothes. Turning the shower on, she waited only moments for the water to heat up before stepping in, letting the water wash over her. Closing her eyes, she felt her tense muscles relax under the warm drops smacking against her skin. For a few minutes she just let the water run down her body before she decided to start with her hair._

_After getting a handful of shampoo, she covered both hands with it before applying it to her hair. However, Gabriella froze as she pulled a loose, rather large hunk of hair from her head. Wide-eyed, she stared at it, suddenly feeling more than water flowing down her back. She stared at the ground below her, only to find that, just as she feared, hair was all around her._

_Trembling, she stepped out of the shower, almost slipping on the floor. She looked in the mirror and found that this was no dream. This was real, and this was a nightmare._

_Unable to contain herself, she let out an ear-splitting scream._

Shaking this memory from her mind, Gabriella glared at Troy venomously. "Let. Me. Go," she demanded, struggling against his iron grip. She felt the stares from people around her; some were laughing, others looked out of curiosity, and the rest just simply walked away as though they saw nothing. Not one of them would dare to help her, for none were brave enough to stand against Troy. Rightfully, she didn't blame them. She stood up to Troy once and this is what it got her.

"Why? So you can run to the bathroom and hide all day like the scared little girl you are?" he taunted.

"The only scared little girl I see is you," she remarked, smirking suddenly. "I mean, come on, Bolton. You and I both know that the only logical explanation for you giving me hair removal cream was because you were afraid that I had prettier hair than you."

Angrily, he dropped her shoulders, clutching her neck instead, cutting off her airway. Gasping for breath, she grabbed at his hands which seemed to be elevating her off the ground. She kicked at him, but nothing seemed to faze him. She felt a sudden blow to her stomach. She wanted to double over, but his leg, she presumed, held her there.

"Bolton, let her go!" Turning, Troy momentarily forgot what he was doing and dropped her to the ground as Taylor glared deviously at him. It had been a while since she had crossed his path, but now that she had, she knew he would make her suffer. Taking the opportunity, Gabriella scampered away from him, trying her best to use her hands to try to cover her head. She overheard Chad and several others laughing and murmuring amongst themselves as she ran past, but she couldn't be bothered by them now. She just had to get out of there.

"Give it up, Sharpay!" Kelsi shouted, catching Gabriella's attention as she ran past the girl's bathroom.

"Make me," Sharpay replied stubbornly. Taking a peak inside, she found Kelsi standing in front of Sharpay who held the wig that belonged to her. She was surprised to find Kelsi of all people trying to help her in this situation, for usually she tried to avoid confrontations. However, she was eternally grateful, even though Gabriella knew she didn't stand a chance.

"You're outnumbered, Sharpay," she said, stepping into the room, knowing Sharpay alone couldn't win over both of them without back-up.

"Oh, I'm so scared. It's baldy and the midget," Sharpay sneered, rolling her eyes as she turned to Gabriella. "What is this, some bad horror movie?"

"You wish," Gabriella stated, reaching for the wig which Sharpay pulled back, only for Kelsi to grab it instead.

"Give it back you little minx!" Sharpay screeched as Kelsi ran across the floor with it. She started after her but Gabriella grabbed her arms.

"Kelsi, put it in my locker!" Gabriella instructed, holding onto Sharpay. "I'll keep her under wraps!"

"Get off me you filthy little bitch!" Sharpay cried, trying to break free of her grip. Gabriella held onto her as though her life depended on it.

"No!"Gabriella shouted, losing her grip under the struggle. With one quick motion, she threw Sharpay to the ground before she could completely break free. She tried to make a run for it, but Sharpay quickly kicked her legs, causing her to trip.

"Now who won?" Sharpay questioned, smirking as she got to her feet. Just as Gabriella tried to stand, Sharpay stepped on her hand, the large heel smashing it into the floor.

"Get off!" she demanded, trying but failing to get her hand out from under the shoe. She figured Sharpay had almost her entire weight on her left foot, making it as excruciating as possible. She was breathless; she blamed it on what Troy had done to her, for she never fully recovered.

"Hm...let me think about it...."" she started, pausing to _think_. "Okay." Quickly, she removed her foot, only so she could kick her in the face with it.

"Thought you could beat me, didn't you?" she stated, turning on the water faucet. "Think again."

Gulping Gabriella tried to stand again, ignoring her aching hand, head and abdomen. She started for the door, surprised when Sharpay didn't try to stop her. However, as soon as she opened the door, she discovered none other than Troy Bolton standing outside of it.

"Going somewhere?" he taunted, flashing the wig in front of her. Wide-eyed, she tried to grab it from him, wondering frantically where Kelsi was, or what Troy did with her...

"Wh-what do you want?" she asked, taking a few steps back. "J-Just keep the wig. I-I don't care anymore."

"Giving up that easily?" he questioned. "You're no fun. I think your ponytails on too tight...oh wait, that's right, you don't have enough hair for that."

"Just let me leave!" she ordered, her voice shaking ever so slightly. This was the fear that Troy caught onto and immediately used to his advantage.

Taking a few steps toward her, Troy backed her up until she was trapped by the wall. Glancing down at her attire, he spoke, "You need to loosen up a little, you know? Oh, Sharpay, you have a fashion disaster on your hands."

Smirking, Sharpay was at his side in a moment, studying Gabriella, a knife in her hands. Gulping, Gabriella backed as far into the wall as she could, wishing she could blend in or become invisible. "This..." Sharpay suddenly sliced through the fabric of her shirt, cutting off the sleeve. "Needs to go."

Gabriella quickly crossed her arms over her chest, fearing what was next. She felt fresh blood oozing from where Sharpay purposely nicked her skin. Murmuring to Sharpay, Troy suddenly grabbed her legs , the knife in hand. Gabriella grabbed at his hair as she felt him ripping at her pants leg. He didn't make the cut entirely as Sharpay had, although. Instead, he kept it attached in the back, but she felt blood seeping out of a cut from her leg as well.

"That's an improvement," Sharpay snorted. Suddenly Troy pulled Gabriella's legs out from under her. Her head bounced off the floor, blacking out her vision. She couldn't see and she was struggling to hear "What a mess!" Sharpay squealed, looking at the water on the floor from the overflowing faucet. "Use _it_ to mop the water up."

Doing as instructed, Troy flipped her over, figuring this way would be more embarrassing, and pulled her through the water, her clothes absorbing most of it. Gabriella, still partially unaware, shrieked as her clothes dampened, the water dripping onto her back as well. Suddenly, Troy grabbed her by her neck and forced her up. The next thing she knew, her head was forced under water.

She closed her eyes, thinking a million thoughts at once. What was going on? What did they do to her? Would they finally kill her? Would anyone find out?

Suddenly, she found herself thinking fewer and fewer things. She was becoming light-headed and sleepy. She was losing consciousness but she wouldn't fight it. She wanted to let misery finally consume her.

* * *

Opening her eyes, Gabriella stared directly at the bright light before her, her initial thought being that she was dead and this was heaven, not that she felt she deserved to be there... However, the sound of her mother's voice soon proved otherwise.

"Gabi!" Maria cried, embracing her daughter. "Honey, are you all right?"

"M-mom," she started, surprised. Her mother was supposed to be at work, not sitting beside her. If anyone, her father she thought would've been there. "W-What are you doing here?"

"The school called asking that I be here," she stated. "Your dad's in the other room, talking with the principal."

"What happened?" she asked, her memory unclear of the last few moments before she passed out.

"When Mrs. Goetz walked into the bathroom, she saw two students-Troy Bolton and Sharpay Evans-trying to drown you in the sink," she explained, a painful look spread across her face. "Honey, why didn't you tell us anything was going on? And, did they just do this to your hair?"

Sighing, she nodded. "Troy did this yesterday. It all fell out in the shower so I asked Taylor to take me wig shopping before you came home. That's where we were when you came home and found me missing."

"That still doesn't answer my first question," she stated.

"I didn't tell you because I figured it's no big deal," she replied, shrugging as she looked to the floor.

"No big deal?" Maria repeated, her voice rising. "Gabriella, you could be _dead_ right now!"

Ignoring her mother, Gabriella walked through the door of the nurse's office, ignoring the nurse who wanted her to wait. She wanted to know what Mr. Matsui was going to do. She wanted to know Troy and Sharpay's punishment. She wanted them to pay once and for all for what they did to not only her, but to her friends and everyone else.

"...It's not like it's their tenth time doing something," she heard Jack Bolton say. Of course, she thought. He would weasel his way into getting Troy the least punishment.

"If that were your daughter laid up on a bed in the nurse's office, you'd demand those two be locked up!" her father shouted.

"It's not like she died," Jack argued. "I agree that what they did was wrong, but they're teens not criminals."

"Yet!" he added, outraged. Gabriella, not wanting to hear anymore of this, walked away from the office, only to hear another conversation going on out front.

"...Don't worry. My dad has it under control," Troy assured Sharpay. "We'll get off the hook, trust me."

"No one cares about that geek, anyway!" Sharpay ranted. "We shouldn't even be here right now!"

"I know, which is why we'll hardly get anything," he replied.

Glaring at the couple, Gabriella decided to make her presence known, "You, Sharpay, can spend the rest of your pathetically perfect life in Hell."

"You mean you survived?" Sharpay asked, astounded.

"And, you, Troy Bolton. One of these days, you're going to pay for everything you've ever done to me," she said, ignoring Sharpay.

"Why would I do something like that?" he questioned, smirking. "Am I going to go bald ten years from now?"

"One of these days, you'll know how it feels to be on the bottom of the status quo," she continued, ignoring his comments. "..You can laugh and make fun of me all you want to now, but trust me in saying that, when that day finally comes I'll be the one to have the last laugh."

"Oh, I'm so scared," he replied sarcastically. "What are you, a witch? Are you going to put a curse on me?"

"Troy and Sharpay." The three turned automatically at the sound of Mr. Matsui's voice. "I'm giving you each a two-day suspension and three days of detention, beginning next week."

Gabriella looked at him, appalled. They had just tried to drown her to death yet they only got _this_ for a punishment?

Appearing to be hiding a smirk, Troy looked gravely at the principal. "We understand. Am I still on the team?"

"Yes, Troy, but next time you won't be so lucky," he warned, not looking at Gabriella who looked at him in dismay.

Once he walked away and was out of ear-shot, Troy looked back at Gabriella, smirking. "That's an easy enough payment. I can afford it."

Gritting her teeth, Gabriella sulked back into the nurse's office. Someday, she assured herself, he was going to pay a bigger price. That day wasn't today, but it was approaching; she could feel it. As Mr. Matsui had said, he wouldn't be as lucky next time.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: This is the long-anticipated part of the story....*drum roll*. I tried not to make you wait too long. Now, the ones after this, I don't know about. School just started the other day and I'm busy. I mean, only needing 1 gym class to graduate is just such tiring work....No matter, I have about half of the next chapter done so hopefully it won't take me too long to finish it. As always, reviews are greatly apreciated!

Disclaimer: HSM is not mine.

* * *

"_Troy Alexander Bolton!" Lucille scolded her six-year-old son. "What did I tell you about playing basketball in the house?"_

"_Not to..." he replied sheepishly, staring down at the shattered glass that was formerly a window._

"_Then why did you?" she questioned, looking exasperatedly down at her son._

_Troy shrugged. "I wanted to."_

_Lucy sighed. "Troy, you can't always do something just because you want to. There are rules, and if you don't follow them, then you'll sometimes have to do something you really don't want to do."_

_Troy looked up at her, his beautiful blue eyes filled with sadness. "Am I in trouble, mommy?" he asked, giving her the look that both knew would melt her heart._

_Lucy sighed. She hated it when he looked at her like this. She wanted to give in, to tell him that she would let it go this time. However, that would make her a hypocrite, she knew, looking back down at the broken glass. If he didn't learn crime and punishment now, he never would, she thought."Honey, I'm sorry, but I have to. I told you not to play basketball in the house and you disobeyed me. Rules and punishments are made for a reason."_

_Reluctantly, Troy nodded. Although he didn't quite understand crime and punishment, the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach made him realize that he didn't like disobeying his mother. "I won't do it again, mommy."_

_Sighing, Lucy knelled down beside him and scooped her son up into her arms. "That's my boy."_

"_Does this mean you still love me?" he asked timidly._

"_Of course, honey," she said. "There's nothing you could ever do to make me stop loving you."_

* * *

"I can't believe this! What were you two thinking?" Jack roared, pacing back and forth across the living room floor. Troy, however, kept his back to him, flipping through channels on the television. Not only was he trying to block out Jack but also the memory of the first time his mother ever punished him. He didn't understand why he was thinking about it. After all, his mother was dead; she had no say in his current predicament. She wasn't there to be disappointed with him, to punish him, to look down on him...That was Jack's job now, but he wouldn't have any of it. "Damn it, listen to me when I'm speaking!" Jack yelled. This caught Troy by surprise, for Jack was usually laid back in any conversation with him, as though he, too, was afraid...

Rolling his eyes, Troy finally turned to him. "What's the big deal? It's not like I killed anyone."

"But you two very well could have!" he snapped. "Do you know how bad that looks on me as a teacher and coach when my son and his girlfriend try to _drown_ another student?"

He shrugged. "Since when did you become 'super-dad'?"

Jack sighed, giving his son a stern look. "I've been dealing with your crap for the last nearly eight years now, Troy. It's about time I put my foot down."

"Oh, so you mean that, even though I'm now legally an adult, you're finally going to treat me like a child?" he questioned. "I think it's too late for that."

Jack shook his head. "You live under my roof. Therefore, you will listen to what I tell you and obey the rules I set down. And, since you're legally an adult now, I can very easily kick you out. And, don't think I won't hesitate to do so."

"This isn't right," he protested, standing up, his stance rigid as he continued, "You haven't done anything as far as parenting for nearly eight years, not since mom died! What did you expect to happen to me? Of course I wouldn't be what you wanted me to be! I never knew what you wanted from me, other than no drugs, and not having to do jail time!"

"What happened to the innocent little boy who only ever wanted to do what he thought was right?" Jack questioned, ignoring his son's outburst. "You can't tell me that you think trying to harm an innocent girl is the right thing to do."

"He died," Troy stated, unable to meet his gaze. "He died when the only person that mattered died."

"He's still in you," Jack stated. "You just refuse to let him out because she's not here. Troy, I loved your mother more than anything in this world, and it was extremely hard for me, too, after she died. But, I continued living the way I felt she would want me to. Do you honestly think she would want you to be doing what you've been doing since her death? You treated her death almost as though it was a prison escape, as though the morals she taught you and I taught you no longer applied with her gone."

"Who are you now, Dr. Phil?" He rolled his eyes and stood up, a look of anger and pain flashing across his face. "You have no right to say anything. You don't even know who I am."

"You're my son," he replied.

"Oh big deal," he said sarcastically. "I'm mom's son, too, but you don't hear her lecturing me."

Gritting his teeth, Jack said, "You know as well as I do that if she was alive right now you wouldn't be doing this."

"Well, she's not alive," he argued.

"She's as much alive as you and me, Troy," he stated. "Her spirit is as much a part of me as it is in you. Don't you think it hurts her to look down at you and see what you're doing?"

Unable to tolerate any more of this, Troy stood up and made his way to his room. For once, the subject of his mother made him uncomfortable and not his father. It ws weird how, any other time, he would bring her into subject without a problem, but when Jack mentioned her, it made him feel guilty and strange inside. When he was younger, he wanted nothing more than to make her happy and see her smile. He knew that what he was doing, especially to Gabriella, would devastate her if she knew. But, once she died, he felt as though all of what she taught him had died along with her. She was gone. He felt as though it didn't matter to her what he did because she wasn't around to scold him or hurt because of him. He refused to believe that she was still a part of him. It wasn't like she tried to stop him from hurting anyone....

"Troy, open this door right now!" Jack called, banging on the door.

"Leave me alone!" he shouted, turning on his stereo as his father continued pounding on the door. He turned it up as high as it would go, blasting the music of Linkin Park, the last CD he played. The music was loud enough that it drowned out Jack's voice. After a few minutes, he was certain that Jack had given up.

As much as he hated to admit it, part of him was disappointed. He _wanted_ Jack to continue fighting him. He was his father, and he knew if it was his mother, he knew she would've fought him until she won... But, then again, she stopped fighting when she gave up her cancer battle, he bitterly recalled. If only she would've fought harder, held on longer...she could've made it. Alas, he felt she took the easy way out and left this world, leaving him behind to deal with Jack, the father who never was. Often, he wished she would've taken him with her. It was easy for her to succumb to death, but it was anything but easy for him to have to live through this life without her...

Sometimes, he wondered just how badly his mother's death effected Jack. He knew for a fact that he didn't like talking with him about her, but he always wondered why. And then, how was it so easy for him to bring her up just now? Did he reserve her memory just for a guilt mechanism to use against him? He was starting to believe that. It was just another reason for him to hate her.

* * *

As the rain struck the roof, giving off a _pit pat_ sound, Troy stared out at the barren street from the living room window. Despite the negativity it received from most people, he loved the rain. He always believed it to be a sign of hope through all the bad. Storms didn't last forever; it was a constant reminder to him that none of his problems, no matter how terrible they seemed, would eventually go away one way or another. Whether he toughed it out or died, it would all eventually go away.

Due to the rain, there wasn't much he could do, which he assumed being suspended meant not doing much of anything. He couldn't play basketball, the satellite was blacked out, and there wasn't anything for him on the computer. He already scanned the newspaper hours ago but found nothing new or fascinating. He came across an article about the East High Wildcats, featuring a picture of himself during last year's basketball state championship game. However, not even that could hold his attention for long.

He groaned. Naturally, none of his friends were home. They were all at school except for Sharpay, who was serving her suspension as well. Any other time, they would've found a way to meet. However, her mother was home and watching her like a hawk. Even though the only real punishment they received was a two day suspension and three days of detention, Mrs. Evans (who never liked Troy) felt that it was best if the two didn't see nor speak to each other during their suspension. This meant four days without seeing her, among other things. She was the only one who could temporarily eliminate his stress. Even temporarily was better than nothing.

Despite Friday night's confrontation, the weekend had gone by relatively peacefully. Jack entirely dropped the subject as he usually did during the rare occasions the two had butted heads. It was as though the argument never happened. Although, Troy couldn't forget it. It was the most his father had ever stood up to his actions in the last eight years. In a way, he felt relieved. In another way, he was angry that Jack waited so long...

Groaning, Troy looked outside at his black mustang sitting in the driveway. He could always go somewhere, maybe to a fast-food restaurant and grab something to eat, he thought. The rain was bad, but he figured he could make it. Anything beat having to fix his own meal, after all.

Slipping on his sneakers and jacket, he grabbed his car key from his desk and headed outside. The rain was heavier than he originally thought, but he knew he could manage. It was only a five-minute drive.

From his pocket, Troy's cell phone suddenly started going off. As he got inside, he answered it, knowing it was Sharpay judging by the ring tone.

"Hey, Shar," he greeted her, starting the car, forgetting his seatbelt. He usually got by without wearing one. He considered himself to be a fairly good driver, and so he figured it wasn't a big deal if he wore it or not.

"Troy, my mom just left! She won't be home for about an hour. Do you think you can come here?" she asked excitedly.

"I'll be over in a few," he stated, a slight grin appearing on his face. This may be the only opportunity he had to see her, he knew, and so he planned to take full advantage.

"I'll finish getting ready now. Toodles!"

"Bye," he replied, ending the call. Even though Sharpay was annoying at times, he loved her regardless. No one quite understood why, for not even Troy understood the full concept of love, but he was positive that what he felt for her had to be that. Although, lately he noticed their relationship was changing. When they weren't in school, they usually only saw each other when they were having sex. Even though that was his favorite part of their relationship, it made him feel kind of strange inside. Was that what love was about now? Was it not about communication and connecting between partners? He shrugged it off, figuring he was just over-reacting.

Pulling onto the main road, Troy turned right and headed for Sharpy's. Her home was a straight shot from here. It took roughly five minutes to get there and two minutes just to drive up the driveway. The Evan's home was fairly large, but their yard was the largest in Albuquerque. It was enough room to build at least one house in front of theirs. The Evans, in Troy's opinion, had enough money to feed to feed all of Africa if they chose to do so..

Once again, his cell phone went off. Sighing, he looked to see that, this time, it was a text. For a moment, he took his eyes off the road to read the message, for he saw no one coming. It was Sharpay, telling him to hurry that her mother was coming home a few minutes early. Groaning, he looked back up, and the only thing he saw was a large red truck, an F-350, perhaps, coming toward him. Where had he come from? There was no one there ten seconds ago....It was as though it appeared literally out of nowhere...

The driver frantically layed on the horn, and that was when he realized that he had started to cross the center line. Troy gulped, for he had no time to get over now. He was too late. The truck made no effort to stop. If anything, it seemed to be getting faster...

"_One of these days, you'll know how it feels to be on the bottom of the status quo...You can laugh and make fun of me all you want to now, but when that day comes, I'll have the last laugh."_ Gabriella's words flashed through his mind just as the truck crashed into his car; the last thought Troy had before everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: I saw where a lot of you were happy with what happened to Troy. In the novel, the accident was not a car accident, it was a diving accident, but to make it fit the story I used a car instead. Also, one calarification, in case anyone's wondering, I made Troy a thousand times meaner than the guy in the book. The guy in the book wasn't a big enough jerk for my liking so I spiced it up. Anyway, here's chapter 5, and thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: HSM is not mine.

* * *

_Cowering in the far corner of the classroom, Gabriella shivered as the jocks drew closer to her, snickering. Noticing the satisfied and sadistic smile belonging to Troy Bolton, she quickly buried her head between her knees._

"_Yo, captain, let's try a little experiment..." Chad Danforth ripped the bag from her shoulders and emptied its contents on the floor._

"_Leave me alone...I never did anything to you!" she cried, regaining her voice. She stood up, but then Jason Cross grabbed her and forced her back down to the ground. "Get off me!" she demanded, searching for any scape goat she could find, but he was too strong. _

"_You know...to be a nerd, you're kind of hot when you squirm," Jason commented, smirking. Outraged, Gabriella's foot shot up, not caring where she kicked him. Caught off guard, he got up from her, clutching his groin and groaning in pain._

"_Wow, Montez, you got some fight in you," Troy commented, clapping slowly. "However," he started, ceasing the applause. "You got a lucky shot on Jase. That won't happen with me."_

_Before she could respond, Gabriella's back slammed against the wall. Pain shot up her spine and she wanted to fall to the floor, but someone was holding her there. Her eyes locked on Troy's as he studied her face. Whatever he saw must've satisfied him, for he remained quiet, just standing there pinning her to the wall. His grip wasn't as tight as she expected, but it also wasn't soft, either._

_Having forgotten the presence of the other, she was snapped out of her trance by the sound of paper being ripped and torn. She shrieked upon seeing Chad, Jason and Zeke Baylor ripping her books to shreds._

"_Stop!" she pleaded, trying to break away from Troy, but he tightened his grip, causing her to wince._

"_Aw, what's wrong?" Troy taunted. "You won't be able to hide behind your books anymore? Too bad..."_

"_Leave her alone!" Gabriella's head turned toward the door, seeing a somewhat unfamiliar person standing there. She vaguely recognized the girl, but this was only her second week at East High; she had seen many people she didn't know._

"_Well, look, the nerds have formed a union," Chad jeered. "McKessie has already joined the pact. Are you their new member, Nielson?"_

"_Just leave her alone!" the small girl demanded. Gabriella found it strange that, for such a tiny person, she seemed to have a lot more bark than bite to her._

"_Make us," Troy taunted. "Or do you want her punishment?"_

"_Look, if you four don't leave right now I'll get Mr. Masui," she warned, stepping away from the door. Abruptly, Troy dropped Gabriella as the other three dropped her books._

"_Next time, guys," Troy muttered. Gabriella breathed a sigh of relief as the four fled the room._

* * *

Upon arriving at school Monday morning, Gabriella was the happiest she'd been since moving to Albuquerque. She finally felt somewhat free,and she had taken advantage of her short-lived freedom that morning. Dressed in a long, flowing skirt and white blouse for the first time in two years, she felt almost like a different person, leading a normal life. Without Troy and Sharpay there to make her lie miserable, she felt as though she could do whatever she pleased (as long as the school would allow it).

"Hey, Gabi, I see someone's enjoying their Bolton-free day," Kelsi stated, coming up beside her.

"You bet," she agreed, smiling at her friend. "And, there's no one here to screw up what little bit of hair I have left."

"No one who didn't see anything yesterday will even realize it's a wig,"" she assured her. "And those who saw, overall, don't care, except for Troy's friends...but ignore them. They're pathetic spineless jerks without Troy here."

"It seems...different," she started. "I mean, having them not here is great and all, but...."

:It feels like your day isn't complete without them harassing you," Kelsi finished.

"Yeah," she agreed. It felt completely strange without him there, she thought. As though her day wasn't complete without someone hitting her, making fun of her, or asking for their homework....Over the weekend, she had gotten the best sleep in months, for she didn't have to stay up late and do Troy's assignments for a change. Even though it was only for two days, she still felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Oddly, however, part of her missed it, just a little. She blamed it on her obsession with normalcy.

"It does feel strange," Kelsi said, snapping her from her thoughts. "Though, it was about time someone beat them at their own game." "I know," she replied. "It's too bad they can't be out...oh, the rest of the year." Kelsi laughed. "Yeah. That would be a vacation for us."

* * *

For once, the day went by in a dull fashion, something Gabriella wasn't accustomed to. No day was ever boring for her with Troy and Sharpay there. She didn't know a day of school that didn't involve Troy or Sharpay, but she admitted that she liked it. The rain hitting the school roof was the most sound she had heard all day.

After lunch, Gabriella dressed for gym in the girl's locker room, slipping into her gym shirt and shorts. She knew today's class would feel kind of awkward, being that Coach Bolton was her teacher and he just found out his son spent the last two years bullying her...However, at least she had Taylor in this class. She wasn't entirely friendless this period.

"Ready for our _favorite_ class?" Taylor asked her once they were finished.

"Aren't I always?" she said sarcastically as the two headed out to the gym where they found Coach Bolton talking on his cell phone.

"Isn't that not allowed?" Gabriella asked. "If we can't, why should teachers be allowed?"

"They're privileged," Taylor answered, noticing the look of worry and fear cross his face. Suddenly, Gabriella felt sick on her stomach as though she was going to throw up. It was as though, buried deeply in her subconscious, she knew something was wrong, for she knew that no one, including teachers, were allowed on their cell phones unless it was a dire emergency. She, too, saw the fear and worry on the basketball coach's face, and she felt that whatever was wrong was not a typical emergency. She had had Coach Bolton for a gym teacher for the last two years, and never once had she seen him on a phone of any sort for any reason.

_Snap out of it_, she told herself. What did it matter to her if something was wrong with Coach Bolton or his family? It shouldn't matter, she thought. His son was a jerk to her. She should feel glad when something bad happens involving the Bolton family, but she wasn't satisfied. She didn't like it when anyone was in trouble or hurt, even someone like Troy. Maybe she was just over-reacting, she assured herself. Nothing could be wrong with Troy. He was probably with Sharpay....It had to be something else..._someone _else. Maybe Coach Bolton's wife? Another child? Someone from the basketball team? Another relative? She was certain he knew a lot of people. Just because he was worried didn't mean it involved Troy... After all, he was Troy Bolton. He flew through life unscathed....Nothing bad ever happened to him. He was the lucky one.

Gabriella and Taylor watched as Mr. Bolton shut off his cell phone and called frantically for Chad Danforth. From where they stood, they couldn't hear much, but they managed to catch part of the coach's words. "Troy.... accident.... hospital....now....take over," they heard.

Wide-eyed, the girls looked at each other. Gabriella's suspicions were correct, which was exactly what she was afraid of. Had karma finally caught up with Troy? How serious was the accident? Would he survive? Undeniably, she was worried; more worried than she should've been.

"What do you think happened?" Taylor whispered to her.

"I-I don't know...." she replied. "But, I'm sure whatever it is it probably sounds worse than it is."

:All right, class," Coach Bolton started, snapping the students out of their conversations. "I have an emergency to deal with, so Coach Miller will be in charge."

Gabriella sent Taylor a worried glance. No matter how bad the situation, Coach Bolton had never left just like that. It had to be a serious emergency or else that wouldn't have happened. "I think something bad just happened...." Gabriella stated. "Whatever it is, Troy deserved it," Taylor replied, shrugging. "That's what he gets for acting like a dick." "All right, class, start warming up," Coach Miller, Jack's assistant coach, stated, interrupting Gabriella as she was about to reply to Taylor. Maybe Taylor was right, she thought. Maybe he deserved whatever punishment karma delivered to him. However, no one deserved to be severely hurt, not even him.

* * *

When Gabriella arrived home, she went through her daily tradition of throwing her book bag on her bed, but she didn't sit down as she usually would have. Instead, she went straight to the kitchen and started cleaning the dishes her father had left her. Her mother would be home in two hours, and so she had over an hour to do her homework and then start on dinner.

_I'm doing my own homework for a change,_ she thought, feeling slightly surprised yet relieved. If Troy Bolton was out of school, that meant she would never have to worry about doing his schoolwork for the rest of the year. She could accomplish more of what she wanted to do, not have to live in fear of what he would do to her if she didn't do it.

Gabriella sighed. All afternoon the only thing she could think about was why Mr. Bolton left school early. She refused to admit that there was something seriously wrong, but any other idea that popped into her mind proved to be illogical. He was eighteen; he was a legal adult. He shouldn't need him to leave school early if it was only a minor accident. She groaned, for she knew she was just being paranoid. Troy would be back in school and ready to torture her along with Sharpay. Nothing was different. Everything would be just the way it was every other day once their suspensions were up.

After finishing the dishes, she headed upstairs to her room and t her laptop. She had a research paper due after Thanksgiving break which was next week, meaning she had two weeks to do it. However, she felt the need to get a head start, especially because she knew she would end up doing Troy's as well, once he received the full assignment on Wednesday.

A few minutes later, footsteps were heard coming upstairs, causing Gabriella to jump in fear. Who was there? Her father was at work and her mother wasn't due home for almost two hours. She thought she had locked the door, but apparently not.

"Gabi, I got off a little early today. Sorry if I scared you," her mother greeted her from the doorway.

"It's okay. I meant to have dinner ready but I didn't know you'd be here early," she replied, managing a weak smile.

"I'll cook tonight," she offered. "I'm your mother. It's my job, after all."

"Can I help?" she volunteered. "I kind of wanted to talk to you about something..."

"Of course. Just let me get out of this uniform," she replied, heading into her room. Shutting off her computer, Gabriella headed downstairs and waited patiently for her. There was so much that she wanted to get off her chest, but none of it she felt comfortable telling Taylor or Kelsi. They both hated Troy with a passion, and so neither o them would understand why she felt so worried. Her mother was slightly more understanding, but she knew that not even she would fully understand her feelings in this situation.

"Ah, much better," her mother said, smiling. "Anything special you wanted to fix?"

"Um, no, I really just wanted to talk to you," she stated.

"Oh, honey, that reminds me," Maria started, inadvertently interrupting her. "I heard on the radio at work that there was a two-car accident in town. Troy Bolton was one of the drivers involved."

"Yeah, that's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about," Gabriella said. "Did you here anything else?"

"They said he's in pretty bad shape but the other driver walked away completely unharmed, other than for his truck. Troy had to be taken via ambulance and is in the intensive care unit at the hospital. Last I heard he's been unconscious since the accident."

"Is he going to live?" Gabriella asked, partially afraid to know the answer.

"There's a good chance he'll make it, but they can't be completely sure of h extent of his injuries until he's conscious," Maria explained. "They said he wasn't wearing a seatbelt and went straight through the windshield and he suffered a good bit of nerve damage to his brain."

"So...what does that mean?" she asked nervously.

"He'll be out of school for a long time. Heck, he may have to repeat his senior year if he's out for too long," she answered. "Which, that should make you happy. You won't have him to worry about anymore."

"Mom," she started nervously. "The other day, in the office, I said something to him...I told him that I wish he would learn what it's like to be on the bottom of the status quo, and that I would have the last laugh. D-do you think it could've just happened?"

"Don't stress out over it. It's not your problem. It's his, and now he has to live with the choices and mistakes he has made in the past," she stated.

"Is it...wrong for me to care?" Gabriella asked her.

Maria paused for a moment. "I...suppose not. Honey, it's normal for you to worry about others, especially someone you were used to seeing everyday, even though the meetings weren't the best..."

Gabriella nodded, feeling slightly relieved to have talked with Maria about the situation. Now, she could feel free to talk and think about other things. "Hey, mom," she said. "Maybe we could make tacos..."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Thanks for all the reviews, they really make my day. I'm trying to start updating on a more regular basis, a weekly one I'm hoping for. With the completion of another one, this will become a higher priority (I think). So, anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: HSM is not mine

* * *

_Troy awoke in a haze, staring up at the bright white light. He squinted immediately, for never in his life had he seen so much light. In fact, as he finally adjusted enough to look around, all he saw was white, as though he was in the middle of a cloud. He was afraid to look below him._

_Where was he? His mind flashed back to the crash. Was he in the hospital? Was he dead? He wished someone was around that could tell him what was going on. Alas, he saw no one. He was completely alone._

"_Hello, is anyone out there?" Troy asked, trying to pull himself off the ground but found that he couldn't move his legs. Frantically, he placed his hand on his thigh. He couldn't feel it. It was as though it wasn't even attached to his body. "What the hell is going on?" he yelled, although it was more of a cry of fear than anger. Anyone who knew him would've automatically assumed anger, however._

_Just then, a young woman who looked to be around her early thirties started towards him. Using his arms, he propped himself on his hands to get a better view of her. She had long brown hair and looked to be of average height for a woman, but he sensed there was something off about her, yet also familiar...As she drew closer, he studied her features harder...blue eyes, pretty, wearing a white dress...._

_That was when it dawned on him._

_Troy didn't know whether he should run to the woman or away from her. There was no denying that she was his deceased mother, but if he wasn't dead then why was she here? That had to mean that he was, in fact, dead._

_He tried again to get up but to no avail. He couldn't move his legs no matter how hard he tried, no matter how determined he was. It was like they were only a figment of his imagination...Briefly, he rested his hand on his other knee; once again, his hand felt the texture of the skin beneath his palm, but his knee didn't feel the hand resting upon it._

"_Troy," Lucille called, catching Troy's attention immediately. It was definitely his mother, he thought, feigning indifference. He never thought that he would hear her voice again, and hearing it now would've made him emotional, but he was too afraid and confused to needed answers, and she would give them to him._

"_Mom?" Troy asked, making sure it was really her and not a hallucination._

"_It's me, honey," she said, kneeling down so she was on eye level with him._

"_Why can't I feel my legs?" he asked her, doing the best to make his voice sound cool and even although frantic on the inside. Had something happened to him in the accident that left him paralyzed? Was this his new reality?_

"_Nerve damage and spinal injury," she answered, reaching out to touch his cheek, but he moved his face away quickly. "If you had been wearing your seat-belt, then the injuries wouldn't have been as severe."_

_Troy snorted. "More like I'm cursed with bad luck. I mean, accidents happen all the time and people don't wear seat-belts. Hell, if that was the case then almost everyone would be paralyzed."_

"_You should be thankful that you aren't dead," she reminded him, sighing. "There are a lot of souls who wish they could be you right now. You survived, although scathed, but you survived."_

"_Fine, I'll switch with someone. Life doesn't have anything to offer," he stated._

_Lucille looked at her son long and hard before speaking, "When life hands you a bad hand, you can either walk away from the table and quit or you can play it. The choice is yours."_

"_Oh, like how you took option one?" he questioned._

"_I did not willfully choose that, Troy. God did," she told him, sighing. "You know I love you and your father. I always have and always will. I fought for as long as I could to be with you guys. I didn't want to die but it was my time to go. I was automatically dealt a losing hand but I still played it."_

_Looking to the ground, he knew that she was right, in a sense at least. He could deny it all he wanted to, say that she didn't love him, but, on his worst days, he felt her with him but never noticed until now. She was the voice inside his head saying that everything would be okay. Whether or not it was really her time, he didn't know._

"_Well, God must be stupid because it wasn't," he stated, his voice laced with bitterness. "I need you right now but the all high and mighty doesn't give a damn."_

"_Troy Alexander Bolton, don't you talk that way!" she scolded. "I died for a reason. There's a purpose for everything."_

"_Oh really?" he questioned. "Then, tell me what the reason is that I can't feel my own damn legs other than to ruin my life!"_

_Firmly, Lucille placed her slender hands on his shoulders, calming him. Her hands, although she was dead, still had the same effect they used to have on him; they brought him peace. He felt his heart and breathing start to decrease to a normal level. The anger and torment in his heart started to fade away, leaving only his true feelings of hurt and confusion, out in the open. Exposed. Unable to stop himself, he wrapped his arms around her neck and started sobbing._

"_Troy, honey, it's okay," she whispered, rubbing his back. "Everything will be okay. It may not feel like it now, but it will be. Trust me."_

"_Wh-what am I supposed to do? My future is shot!" he cried, gradually beginning to calm down._

_Lucille pulled back slightly so that she was looking him in the eyes. "You have to do it right this time. This is your one chance to make everything right. You were on the wrong path to begin with, but now is your chance to do it right. You only get one second chance so don't mess it up."_

"_B-but, I don't know how to do anything right if I don't know what I'm doing wrong," he stated._

_Suddenly, Lucille pulled entirely away and stood up, her body becoming more translucent and transparent. "You know in your heart. I don't have much time left. You're waking up. But, remember that I love you unconditionally, and when the world seems to be against you, your father and I will always be on your side."_

"_No, don't leave me here!" he cried, struggling to reach out to her, but without his legs it was no use. She started fading._

* * *

"_Goodbye, Troy. And, remember what I told you." With that said, she was gone._

The bright lights of the hospital were the first things to hit Troy's eyes when he woke up. Confused and slightly disoriented, he looked around the room. Where was he? How did he get there? Then, he remembered...the accident. He must have been in the hospital.

Recalling the dream, he glanced down at his legs and tried raising them. He didn't have time to be optimistic, for it was as if his legs weren't even there. _Just like the dream_, he realized. Lucille was right.

Frantically, he glanced around the room. So many questions burned in his mind, begging for answers. What time was it? What day was it? Was it still Monday, the day of the accident? How long had he been unconscious?

"Troy? oh thank God!" Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw Jack rushing toward him. Usually, he would've groaned and told him to get away from him, but he was too scared to push him away. It killed him to admit it, but he knew he would be relying on him a lot more than he ever had.

"Dad, what happened?" he asked him. He knew about the accident and why he couldn't walk, but what had _really_ happened?

"You swerved and ran into a truck," he started, sighing as though he was in pain. Troy snorted; Jack wasn't the one laid up in a hospital bed. He shouldn't be the one in pain. "The windshield shattered into a million pieces, some of which cut you. There's stitches all over your head, face, arms, legs and so on." Just as Jack said this, Troy felt a sharp pain in his abdomen as he attempted to sit up. "Yeah, you broke some ribs when you collided with the steering wheel and air bag," he answered his son's unasked question._  
_

"Anything else?" he asked, closing his eyes to try to escape the pain. Try as he may, that was an impossibility.

Jack placed his hand on Troy knee and gave it a squeeze, although Troy didn't know how hard. He wouldn't have felt it anyway. "You received a bad blow to the head causing significant brain damage. Fortunately, you will still be able to function properly...intellectually. The bad news is, you may never walk again."

Even though he already knew this, it was still hard for Troy to listen to. How was he supposed to respond to this? Did Jack want him to respond? He did his crying in his dream. He certainly wouldn't in the real world. _Never._

Unable to say anymore on the subject, he asked, "How long have I been here?"

"A week," Jack answered. "Just in time for Thanksgiving break."

"How much longer will I need to be here?" he asked. His mother spent the last three months of her life confined to a hospital bed. He refused to let that happen to him.

"Nothing is certain yet, but the last I heard they'll be moving you to the rehabilitation floor. You'll meet with a group of doctors every day or so to help you adjust and such. They gave me an estimate of one month, but they won't know for sure until they actually start. Speaking of which, I guess we had better let them know you're awake. I'll be right back."

Once Jack left, Troy laid back down and looked out the window. Noticing the dirt and smears, he wondered when was the last time the windows had been washed. Just then, he felt another presence enter the room and looked over at the door, finding a small, older woman walk into the room with a mop and rolling bucket. She looked to be in her mid-fifties. Troy couldn't help but to wonder why she was still working there, as maintenance of all positions. Catching his stare, the woman smiled politely at him.

"Did you just wake up?" she asked.

"Yeah, my dad went to go get the nurse or doctor or whoever," he answered.

The woman nodded. "You know, you're lucky to have a dad like him. He hasn't left this room since you first got to this floor."

Guilt flooded through Troy's veins. It was Jack whom he had attempted to shove from his life and continuously push away. Yet, when he woke up, Jack was the only person in the room. He was the only one who cared enough to be here.

Glancing at the clock, Troy found that it was five o'clock. Judging by the fact that the sky was darkening, he assumed it was the evening, although he couldn't be sure. Where were his friends now? Not there, of course. Maybe they came in earlier? What about Sharpay? Had she been here to see him? His heart tightened, giving him his answer. Unable to believe his own instinct, he decided to ask Jack if anyone else had been there.

"Yeah, lucky," he replied quietly, swallowing the lump forming in his throat. Maybe his mother was right about something else; maybe they really would always be on his side.

Troy stared as the woman mopped up the floor, although not really paying attention. After a minute, she looked back up at him and spoke, "You're luckier than you think. A lot of people wouldn't have made it out of that kind of an accident."

"I don't know which is harder: living or dying," he said, wondering what it was about this woman that made him want to open up to her. "I mean, when you die, you just die. Cease to exist. Plain and simple. But, life is more complicated. I mean, what's the point in living if you have limitations?"

"Everyone has a purpose in life. You just have to find it." Troy nor the woman spoke again until she was finished. Instead, he averted his gaze back to the window. Lucille had said the same thing, he recalled, and he didn't have a response for either one. Maybe his purpose was still out there. Just because it no longer involved basketball, possibly not his friends or girlfriend didn't mean that they were initially part of his future. He thought he loved Sharpay, but as he thought about all these things, he realized that, just like basketball, he could live without her if he had to, but _only_ if he had to.

Even still, his heart ached as he considered each possibility. His friends were his main support group and always had been. What if they left him now? He needed people now more than ever. It would be hell to go through this without them, he thought. He never told them how important they were to him. Maybe they thought he was fine with or without them. Sharpay never knew how important she was to him, either. After three years of dating, Troy wasn't exactly sure, either. He hadn't had to be without her since they started dating. Besides, they rarely even went out anymore or really talked. Their relationship, after the first year, had become mostly physical. If she left him, what was there to miss about her besides sex? If he could walk, he could go anywhere to get that. She would be easily forgotten.

As this thought entered his mind, Troy glanced down at his legs, wide-eyed. If he was paralyzed from the waist down, then how did that effect his sex life? He could get used to never walking again, he was sure; but being eighteen and never being able to have sex again was another thing. In that case, no sex also meant never being able to have children, not that he ever wanted any to begin with. However, if he ever wanted to change his mind, he still couldn't. The doctor would explain everything, he assured himself. He couldn't assume anything without proof at this point. After all, he knew next to nothing about paralysis.

It wasn't until the woman started walking out of the room that Troy realized she was still there. She turned back to him and said, "I hope everything goes well for you. I'll see you again tomorrow."

"Thanks," he replied, watching as she walked away. He wondered how hospital employees did it. No matter who the patients were, no matter where they came from, no matter what they did, overall, they all had a smile and kind words for everyone. It was because they didn't know, nor did they want to know, he realized. It was their job to be nice to everyone and not pry into their personal lives. That was what the psych ward employees were hired for. Silently, he prayed that he never ended up there.

Finally, Troy heard the sound of his father's footsteps echoing through the hallways, drawing closer to the room. A woman who looked to be in her late twenties entered the room first. She was fairly attractive, he thought. On a scale of one through ten, he gave her about a seven. Her long, brown hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and her hazel eyes studied him as he stared back at her. She was thin with fair skin. Although she was attractive, he had seen better. However, he knew it was stupid for an eighteen year old to be lusting after his twenty or thirty-something year-old nurse anyhow. He blamed it on the fact that he wouldn't be getting anything for a while, _if_ ever again. Although, if he recalled correctly, his sex drive was how he ended up there. He just had to take Sharpay up on her offer. If he hadn't, he would be fine.

Finally, she spoke, "I'm glad to see you're awake, Troy. I'm Tina and I'm your nurse for this evening. Just tell me if there's ever anything I can get you. I flagged down your doctor. He's currently visiting with another patient but he should be up to talk to you within the hour." Troy nodded as she asked, "Is there anything I can get for you right now?"

Troy thought for a moment. Although he had been out for a week, he didn't feel hungry or thirsty. Looking beside him, he found that he was attached to a few machines, two of which he assumed were for food and water. Thankfully, she noticed what he was looking at and said, "Oh, I'll be right back. I can take you off most of these now that you're awake."

Once the nurse was gone, Troy looked at Jack and asked, "Has anyone besides you been up to see me?"

Jack sighed. "Well, Sharpay got here before I did last Monday. She was here all of Monday and most of Tuesday. Then, Wednesday, she stopped in right as the doctor was telling me all that the x-rays indicated. After that, she stopped coming, saying that she had too much work to do but to tell her if there were any changes and if you came to."

Troy grunted and rolled his eyes. Typical Sharpay. "And everyone else?"

"Chad came up Monday through Friday for at least half an hour at a time but then he stopped showing up. The rest of the team maybe showed up once per person," he replied.

Just as he had suspected. Maybe Gabriella was getting her wish after all, he thought bitterly. He was going to eventually lose everyone, pushing him down further to the depths of the status quo. Once, he was the most popular guy in the school while everyone else was his victim. Now, everyone else was above him while he would play the victim of popularity. He would just have to face the reality, he knew. He had at least a month before he had to go back and face the school. Surely he could survive his last six months of high school.

"I think I'm going to have to get you a tutor," Jack said, abruptly snapping him from his thoughts. "That way you don't fall too behind and you can graduate on time with your class."

Troy groaned heavily and closed his eyes. "Someone from school?" he asked, fearing the answer. All the smart kids hated him, a few in particular. He treated all of the nerds like dirt; there was no way that any of them would agree to tutoring him. Besides, he didn't need a tutor.

"Can't you just get the work from my teachers and I'll do it here?" he asked hopefully.

"Troy, you were practically failing to begin with. That won't improve until you get help," Jack told him.

"Who do you have in mind?" he asked through gritted teeth. He didn't know anyone who was in peer tutors, and so he hoped it wasn't just the group of nerds he and his friends terrorized on a daily basis.

"Well, I was considering asking someone that I know you know," Jack started, hesitating to continue.

"Who?" he asked again. _Anyone but her_, he mentally repeated. _Anyone on this planet except Gabriella Montez..._

"Gabriella Montez."


	7. Chapter 7

An: Sorry about the long wait, as usual. I kind of got stuck writing this chapter because not a whole lot happens in it, but things are going to pick up again in the next chapter so it should be easier to write, so stay tuned and thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: Hsm is not mine

* * *

"_Troy's not here, Montez, but we are," Jason Cross stated, smirking as she backed against the wall. She was surrounded by him, Chad, and Zeke Baylor. They were outside of school now; there were no witnesses. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide._

_Gulping, Gabriella gripped the wall tightly, bracing herself for what was to come. Normally, Troy alone didn't do much harm to her. Occasionally, he would smack her around or grab her, but he never went beyond that on a physical level. What would these guys do to her?_

"_I-I never did anything to you," she said timidly._

"_You exist. That's enough," Chad said, coming closer._

"_For a nerd, though, you gotta admit. She has some nice assets,"Zeke spoke up, smirking as she looked at him in horror._

"_Relax, you're not worth getting arrested for rape over, although it wouldn't really be rape since a girl like you would kill to get some from guys like us," Chad replied. "But, no one said we couldn't have some harmless fun..."_

_Chad came closer to her and gripped her arms in his hands. Angrily, Gabriella started kicking him, doing her best to get him away, get them all to back off._

"_Hey, what are you students doing!" Before Gabriella could register who the voice belonged to, they were gone._

Trudging to her locker, Gabriella wearily opened it, unsure of what to expect today. Everyday was different, yet it was always the same. She would be cornered by one of Troy's friends within moments. Initially, she thought she was finally free of Troy's torment, and she was. However, what she didn't expect was for Sharpay and several of his teammates to continue what he started.

The first sign that it wasn't over came to her on the day Sharpay returned: Wednesday. She approached her that morning, she recalled. She was being her normal self, but Gabriella chose to ignore her, knowing that Sharpay was nothing without Troy there. This thinking was what landed her in trouble. Before she could react, Sharpay had grabbed her wig and smeared a wad of chewing gum through it, and she was unable to wear it for the rest of the day. That day, she was the laughing stock of East High.

The second sign came Thursday after school. Chad Danforth was bothering Taylor, as usual. Gabriella tried to help her friend as she had done for her numerous times, only to become the new target for some of the other guys on the team. They taunted her on a daily basis. She would've thought that they would be too busy actually _worrying_ about Troy, but they appeared to be the least bit concerned. To them, it was just another day.

Hastily grabbing her books, Gabriella slammed her locker door shut and sped through the halls to her homeroom. It came as a surprise to her that no one bothered her yet this morning, for her locker was typically the place for Troy or anyone else to get to her.

Staring at the doorway, Gabriella felt her heart racing faster in her chest, for there was Chad and Sharpay standing in front of it, talking. This was unusual, unless they were talking about Troy, she thought. Sharpay, who was facing her, didn't look away from Chad to notice her. Drawing closer, she listened.

"...He's going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life! I can't live with him like that!" Sharpay complained. "I have aspirations, Chad! I can't be tied down with a _handicapped_ boyfriend!" Gabriella's eyes widened, for this was the first thing she had heard of the extent of Troy's injuries. She felt sorry for him, knowing this, for no one deserved to be confined to a wheelchair, although she couldn't say she wasn't relieved. At least he couldn't bully her anymore, she thought.

"It may not be forever. The doctor said that with therapy, a lot of luck, and plenty of encouragement he might someday be able to walk again," Chad reminded her.

"That's not going to happen and you know it!" Sharpay argued. "Regardless, I'm out. And, if you were wise, you would follow suite."

"Sharpay, you've been with him for nearly four years! Are you seriously just going to throw that away?" he questioned.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she said, rolling her eyes, although a slight smirk appeared on her face. "Besides, four years was enough. I was getting kind of tired of him....All we ever really did was have sex..." Gabriella noticed Chad's position shifted slightly as he leaned toward Sharpay. She felt sick just watching the two, and oddly she felt even worse for Troy. What if her wish came true? What if everyone did leave him?

_No_, she thought. That couldn't happen. No one deserved to be entirely alone. If all else, he would always have Jack. No one could take his own father from him, could they? Jack would never abandon Troy. And, what about his mother? Certainly she would never leave her son like this. No matter how bad he was, she knew his parents just had to stay by his side through this.

"You really think it's a good idea for us to just leave him?"Chad asked her, his expression softening.

"Chad, he can't walk. He can't play basketball. Therefore, he's now at the very bottom of the high school food chain. Troy understands that more than anyone else. He would expect us to leave him. He knows we can't make exceptions," she explained. "But, look on the bright side. With him gone, you're now the official captain."

Chad pondered this for a moment as Gabriella rolled her eyes in disgust. Was that all people saw when they looked at each other was status? The answer was obviously yes. All Troy ever saw when he looked at her was a straight-A nerd, therefore putting her on the bottom of the status chain, never the person she actually was inside. All his friends saw when they looked at him was his basketball status, but now all they would see was his wheelchair, not the person on the inside. Troy's personality reasons were becoming clear to her. He was as much a victim as she was.

"Oh, Miss Montez, there you are." Freezing in place, Gabriella watched as Chad and Sharpay turned to face her and the man standing behind her. The two would give her hell, she knew, and she had no idea what Jack Bolton wanted.

"Um, hi, Mr. Bolton," she greeted, turning to face him. "H-how's Troy?" She figured this was a polite question, seeing as Jack knew about her problems with his son, and she was genuinely concerned.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," he started, glancing at Chad and Sharpay who were eavesdropping. "Do you mind coming with me so I can discuss something with you?"

"Sure," she agreed, following him through the halls, unsure as to where he was taking her. They seemed to be heading toward the gym, which she knew made sense for it would be vacant.

Leading her into the gym, he asked, "Do you mind stepping into my office?"

"Uh, sure," she answered.

"I know teachers aren't supposed to pull students into the locker room of the opposite sex but consider this an exception," he said, opening the door, motioning her to enter first. Stepping inside, she kept her gaze on his office as she walked to it, followed by Jack. Nevertheless, she was confused by what he wanted. All she knew was that it had something to do with Troy.

Once inside his office, Jack sat down behind his desk while Gabriella sat in front, facing him, waiting for him to speak.

"I don't know how much you've heard, but Troy was involved in a car accident last Monday," he started. "He's been in a comatose state until yesterday. However, he's paralyzed from the waist down. The doctors say he my never walk again, but there is a slim chance that he could with a lot of therapy and luck. Because of this, he'll be in the hospital at least through Christmas. He's already doing bad in school and there's no way he can catch up on his own. I know that he hasn't been all that great to you, but I know you're a straight-A student who has or is taking the classes he is. Do you think it would be at all possible for you to tutor him?"

Stunned, she looked at him, unsure how to respond. "Um, I don't know Mr. Bolton...."

"I'm willing to pay you," he offered. "Troy, I can assure you, will treat you better than he has. I'll make sure of it. But, if not, I guess I can ask another student..."

Gabriella sighed. All of the smart students hated Troy. There was no way that anyone else would do it. In a way, she felt compelled to do it. Maybe she could even change him in the process. After all, he was vulnerable now. He lost all of his friends and didn't even know it yet.

"I'll do it," she agreed. "But, I'm not going to accept your money. You're going to need that for medical expenses."

Jack smiled at her. "Thanks for this. He really needs someone now, not just for school help, but coping in general. His friends aren't going to be any help, I can tell...."

Gabriella stayed silent as the teacher shook his head. It must have been difficult for him, she realized. Having a son suddenly losing his ability to walk and losing his friends all at once was as hard for the parent as it was for the child.

"I can't promise any miracles, but I'll try my best," she assured him.

Nodding he replied, "Thanks for this, I don't know why Troy was ever so mean to you, and...I'm sorry for trying to shorten their suspensions....They really deserved to be expelled for their behavior."

"Oh, that's okay, I'm used to it," she told him. "You have more important things to worry about."

Sighing, Jack jotted a few notes down on a piece of paper and handed it to her. "Here's just some info you'll need. Do you have transportation?"

Thinking for a moment, Gabriella realized that her parents would never allow her to do this in a million years, and she had no other means of transportation. "No," she answered, looking down at her hands.

"Do you...want me to take you there after school then someone else can pick you up?" he offered.

"Um, sure," she answered, although unsure of who could pick her up. She would figure it out later, she thought.

"Great, so when can you start?" he asked her.

"How about tomorrow?" she offered.

"Sounds great," he told her as the bell rang. Panicking, Gabriella's eyes widened as Jack chuckled. "I'll get you a pass, don't worry."

* * *

The morning passed by in a haze. Gabriella was still unsure about tutoring Troy. It wasn't so much that she didn't want to; it was more of a matter _how_ she would do it. How could she sneak \this secret by her parents? Of course...She was home alone for roughly three hours after school. The secret wouldn't be hard to keep. Without a car, however, how would she get home? Could she walk home? The hospital was around fifteen minutes from her home, within driving distance, that is. It would take her much longer to walk.

She considered getting a ride from Taylor, but she knew that would never work seeing as Taylor would hate her if she knew what she was doing, and with a good reason, she knew. There was no way she nor Kelsi would support her cause, which was why they wouldn't know, either.

"Hey, Gabi," Taylor greeted her, siting down next to her in the cafeteria, startling her from her thoughts.

"Hey," she greeted her, forcing a smile.

"So, have you heard that _sleeping beauty_ finally decided to wake up?" Taylor asked her.

Again, she forced a smile, "So I've heard."

"At least he can't bother anyone anymore," Taylor said. "I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall when he found out he can't walk."

"I feel bad for him," she admitted. "He lost a lot more than just that."

Placing her hand on her friend's forehead, Taylor asked, "Are you feeling okay? You should be happy."

"I'm fine, but no one deserves this, not even him," she stated. "Troy is going to lose more than just his ability to walk if he hasn't already."

"Gabi, why would you feel sorry for him? He brought it all on himself," she said. "Call it karma and leave it."

Sighing, she gave in, "Okay." There was no use in arguing with Taylor, she realized. She was stubborn and nothing would change her mind. If she pressed the subject further, she knew that it could harm their friendship. Just as she predicted, she was on her own with this secret.


	8. Chapter 8

An: Sorry for never updating this. I got kinda busy and things got a little hectic, but I'm back at least for the moment. Anyway, this chapter is rather short compared to the others but a good bit happens, and so I hope you enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_Idly, Troy sat at his desk in Algebra, staring at the clock as the seconds ticked past. Class wasn't in session yet but he was already prepared for yet another boring day of class. With little interest, he watched as a petite blond strode inside, her heels clicking against the floor tiles. It was difficult to not notice Sharpay Evans, for she made herself known in this school. She was much more confident in herself than any other girl in the freshman class, and she certainly had the biggest personality._

_Stopping at the front of the room just two seats up from Troy, she looked at him before flashing him a seductive smile, followed up with an innocent wink, although there was nothing innocent about the Ice Princess. He continued to watch her as she made her way to her desk which was two rows over and one seat up from his._

"_Dude," Chad whispered from behind him. Turning around, Troy met his best friend's urgent stare and he continued, "If I were you, I would so tap that."_

_Rolling his eyes, he replied, "She has a boyfriend."_

"_Didn't you hear? She dumped Mike yesterday," he informed him. "She's yours for the taking."_

* * *

Absently, Troy flipped through the channels on the television, although unable to find anything of interest. Ever since he had woken up two days ago, he had been confined to a bed. Only a few times was he permitted to move around, primarily to use the bathroom, but it was a hassle to get into a wheelchair when his legs wouldn't move at all, and so he tried his best to avoid leaving his bed. Soon, he would be relocated to the rehabilitation floor, according to one of his nurses.

Glancing at the clock, Troy groaned. It was 2:45. Soon, Jack would be there, and he was bringing Gabriella to "tutor" him. He felt confident in knowing that he could easily scare her away. He was certain this wouldn't last more than twenty minutes, if she showed up at all.

The curtain opened abruptly. Snapping his head toward the familiar sound of heels against bare floor tiling, he looked sternly at Sharpay. She showed no signs of remorse, no signs of grief, and certainly no signs that she cared at all. He wondered why she was there, other than what he assumed was coming.

"You mean you actually bothered to come?" Troy snapped sarcastically as she started for his bed. She looked startled momentarily, but she continued towards him regardless.

"I can't stay long," she started, ignoring his comment. "I just came by because there's something I need to tell you."

"Well, get on with it," he pressed, knowing what was coming. He only could expect her to leave him. He anticipated it. Nonetheless, he couldn't stop his heart from breaking. Once upon a time, he loved Sharpay and would do anything to be with her. Now, he was losing her, not because of something that he did, but over status, something that seemed to slip by him, something he once had.

"You probably already know this, but we can't be together now," she said, confirming his prediction. He looked in her eyes for any trace of remorse or regret, but all he found was distance. Her mind was already elsewhere. It wouldn't surprise him if, after she left the hospital, she would be stopping by another guy's house.

"You never cared," he spat, glaring dangerously at her. "What was I to you? Was I just a popular sex toy? And now that I may not be able to fully satisfy you, you toss me aside? Or was I nothing more than a status ranking?"

"You know the rules better than anyone," she said. "I can't be with you. You're even below the geeks now. Technically, I shouldn't even be speaking to you."

"Love has no rules, not that you ever truly loved me," he snapped. "Just get out of my sight before I do something I _won't_ regret."

"You don't scare me, Bolton, and you couldn't hurt me if you tried,"she said, returning his glare. "You can't even walk. You couldn't even scare off a nerd. I'd laugh if they ganged up on you now."

The curtain opened again and another figure stood in the doorway. He looked at the girl, surprised to find Gabriella standing there. He would deal with her later, he thought. Right now, however, he was focused on Sharpay. "Get the _hell _out of here," he threatened through clenched teeth. "And don't let me catch any of my _so-called_ friends here, either."

"They don't want to come, anyway," she replied, not intimidated. Mentally, he cursed himself. She must've though he was harmless. Just because he couldn't walk didn't mean he didn't have full use of his arms. He hadn't noticed she was leaving until he heard Gabriella groan as Sharpay shoved her aside, saying, "Move, nerd!"

Turning towards the window, Troy listened as Gabriella took a few steps forward, the motions exaggerated. He sensed her fear the moment she stepped inside. He smiled to himself, feeling triumphant in knowing he could still frighten at least one person.

"Um, hello, Troy," Gabriella greeted, her voice quiet and hesitant.

"What do you want?" he asked, the sharpness in his voice causing her to take a step back. "Are you here to tell me that you were right and rub it in my face? If so, then get on with it."

"I'm here because your dad asked me to tutor you," she answered.

"After all I've done to you, shouldn't you be mocking me? Or do what Sharpay said and form an army of nerds?" he questioned skeptically. "Nothing will change between us. I'm warning you now. I still hate you just as much as I always have. No ability to walk doesn't change that."

"I know," she replied. "I don't necessarily like your attitude, either. But, I'm doing this because you need someone and I'm the only one willing to step up to the plate. Even your friends abandoned you."

"I don't need anyone," he said, averting his gaze to the window. "I sure as hell don't need you and your pity."

"Well, then, you're in luck. I have no pity for you," she replied, dropping the books in her arms on the bed, causing it to sink slightly. "Now, enough chit chat. You're going to be doing a ton of work over the next few weeks if you ever plan on catching up, and passing is a whole other story....Your dad informed me that you're borderline failing all of your classes, which I don't see how knowing I do most of the work for you as it is...."

"It's none of your damn business," he spat.

"Well, then if you're going to think like that then I'll just tell your dad and he can deal with you," she stated confidently.

Troy snorted at this comment. "That pushover? Yeah right," he retorted.

"Fine, if you want to play hard ball, we will," she said. "Let me put it this way. Without me, you are, no doubt, going to fail at least one or two classes. Without those one or two classes, you won't be able to graduate in the Spring with the rest of us. Therefore, no college for you."

"What's the use in going to college?" he questioned. "Paralysis means no basketball. No basketball means no scholarships. No scholarships means no college."

"I'm sure your dad will get you through college no matter what," she said, slightly surprised by his comment. "It's not the end of the world."

Troy said nothing to this, for there was nothing he could say that she wouldn't argue. "Let's just get this over with," he finally said, turning to look at the books, not at her. "The sooner I can get you out of my sight, the better."

From the corner of his eye, he saw a smug smile appear on her face. He wanted nothing more than to wipe it away, except get her as far away from this room as possible. He didn't like her, never had and never would. First, God took away his ability to walk and now He sent _her. _He couldn't help but to wonder why He was punishing him so harshly.

"Now, what are we starting with? Calculus, English, history, physics...your choice," she said. "By the time I leave here today, you will have done it all regardless of the order."

Troy gave her an incredulous look How could he be expected to do homework with her there for hours on end? "No chance of that happening," he told her.

"Well, I refuse to leave this room until you've done everything I have planned for today's session," she stated. "It really isn't as bad as it seems. It's only around half an hour for each subject...."

"Here's a better idea. Why don't you just do it all?"

Arms crossed, she gave him a stern look before speaking, "Those days are long over. You'll never get me to do a single assignment for you ever again."

"What is it with you people? Has my lack of ability to move the lower half of my body taken away my ability to intimidate?" he questioned, looking away moodily.

"I can't speak for anyone but myself but I decided after the last stunt you pulled that I was done, before I ever heard about any accident," she claimed.

"Because you knew it would happen," he accused. "Well, it looks like you got your wish, but that doesn't mean I still can't make your life miserable."

"You can, but I know you won't," she replied. "You won't because now you are _exactly_ like me in terms of social status. I won't make your life miserable. I'm here to help you out, at least academically. You wouldn't want to have to repeat your senior year, especially not now when you're at rock-bottom. So, if you push me away now, who else is going to be brave enough to tutor you? No one, that's who. You treated all of those who could be helping you now like scum. They want absolutely nothing to do with you. The only reason I'm here is because I know that no one else is, not because I have to or feel obligated to, and at any time I can go."

Rolling his eyes, Troy looked back down at the books. "Which requires the most work?" he asked.

"Calculus," she answered. "Is that what you want to start with?"

He nodded as she flipped open the book. He may not have been a straight-A student, but he did know that it was smarter to get the harder items out of the way first, then pray to God it took him long enough that she had to leave.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: For the umm...however many times, I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I would've had this up weeks ago had my laptop not malfunctioned on me, and then I lost many of my documents besides, so I don't know if or when I'll be able to get them back. This one just happened to be in my email outbox luckily...Anyway, just bare with me and I'll have everything updated sooner or later. As always, thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, as usual. And, the "awful" story known as The Great Gatsby belongs to F. Scott Fitzgerald (if you've read it you'll probably agree with that statement).

* * *

"_I still can't believe you did that," Taylor repeated for seemingly the millionth time that day._

_Gabriella shrugged. "Like I said to you before. I refuse to stand by and watch other people hurt each other like that. It's sick and wrong."_

"_But, it's still only your first day here. You had a chance to have at least temporary happiness," she claimed._

_Shrugging, Gabriella replied, "I know, but it doesn't bother me. I couldn't stand there and watch that jerk treat some innocent girl that way. I wouldn't stand for-"_

"_Well, well," a voice started from behind the girls. As she turned around, Gabriella heard Taylor groan. She faced the blond in astonishment, unable to look past her gold earrings and expensive attire. It was very apparent that this girl had money._

"_Sharpay, what now?" Taylor asked, snapping Gabriella from her thoughts._

"_You know what. Don't play games," Sharpay snapped, examining Gabriella from head-to-toe. Uncomfortably, Gabriella shifted under her gaze. Finally, Sharpay looked her in the eyes and scoffed, "You're what gave Troy problems this morning? How pathetic."_

"_Sharpay, leave her alone. She's new," Taylor defended, taking a step forward as if to protect Gabriella._

"_I don't care what she is." Faster than either girl could blink, Sharpay raised her hand, letting it come into contact with Gabriella's face. "Consider that a warning," she stated. _

"_Don't mess with me or my boyfriend, got that?"_

_Taylor made a move to go after her, but Gabriella grabbed her, ignoring her stinging cheek. "Let it go," she told her. "I don't want to cause more trouble than I already have."_

* * *

Briskly, Gabriella made her way into East High, a cool breeze making her shiver. There was noticeably something different in the way she felt today. She woke up feeling more energized, more alert than usual. She recalled the previous day's events. Her tutoring session with Troy was a tad rough, but she found that it wasn't as bad as she initially planned. In fact, she began to find his temper rather amusing instead of something she should fear.

After she left the hospital, however, her problems truly began. She had told Mr. Bolton that she didn't need a ride home. Instead, she walked home, knowing better than to ask her parents or a friend for a ride home. Her walk home took her nearly two hours whereas taking a car would've taken her twenty minutes at the most. When she was questioned on her whereabouts, she told her parents that she had been tutoring another student after school and that she would be that late getting home most nights from then on. It seemed like a convincing alibi, and after going through a seemingly endless interrogation her parents finally believed her. Never would they suspect the truth, she thought. For all they knew, she was celebrating her freedom from Troy, not spending most of her nights with him.

"Gabi!" Turning around, Gabriella smiled slightly as Kelsi ran to catch up to her.

"Hey, Kels," she greeted. "What's going on? Why the rush?"

"Where were you last night?" she quipped. "Your parents were calling around trying to find you. They were really worried."

"I know," she replied, sighing. "I had an errand to run but I got massively sidetracked. You know how that goes." It was a bad lie, Gabriella realized, but it was a better excuse than the truth. Biting her bottom lip nervously, she waited to see if she believed her.

"Oh, okay," she stated, a tinge of reluctance in her voice. "Didn't you have your cell phone with you?"

"It was dead," Gabriella told her, although she answered too quickly.

"How convenient," Kelsi mussed, although her eyes twinkled slightly in amusement. "Maybe I should use that line on my parents when I don't answer their calls."

"I'm being honest," she defended. "And, anyway, it's over now. I'm here, that's all that matters."

"Yeah, true," she replied. "Anyway, I need to go to the auditorium to meet with Ms. Darbus. I'll see you later."

"Bye," she said, relieved. Kelsi hadn't completely interrogated her as her parents had which was good. She couldn't tell Kelsi what she had told her parents, but she knew that it was at least something that she figured wouldn't be brought up again.

"Montez." Gabriella jumped in surprise and turned to face Sharpay. The blond looked none too friendly, as she had expected. However, there was a difference to her demeanor.

Instantly, Gabriella knew that she wasn't messing around. Sharpay, for once, was all business, and she wanted answers.

"What do you want?" Gabriella asked, rolling her eyes.

"Why were you in Troy's room last night?" she demanded.

"It's confidential," she replied, turning back around.

"Do your nerd friends know you're seeing him?" she interrogated.

"What do you care? You're the one that dumped him," she stated, evading the question.

"Because, it would be a shame when word gets out today about the two of you and they don't already know," she claimed.

"You know nothing," Gabriella argued.

"I know _enough_," she defended, smirking. "You'd be surprised. I'm an excellent storyteller."

"Sharpay, stop it," Gabriella demanded, unable to mask the fear in her voice. "Troy is none of your business anymore."

"What do you care?" she spat, repeating Gabriella's earlier question. "I thought you hated him. Whatever I say will damage his reputation more so than yours. At this point, you have little left to lose after Troy's last stunts."

"How could you do this to someone you once claimed to love?" she asked.

"It needs to be proven that he truly is at the bottom," she stated. "Call it his _initiation_."

"And just what would you make up if I don't tell you the truth?" she questioned, although the sickening lump forming in the pit of her stomach told her it wasn't pleasant.

"The obvious," she started. "You two have probably been having sex since he first woke up, hence why he wasn't overly upset to see me leave. Face it. He can no longer do the school's A-listers, and so the best he can do is a nerd, and you're so desperate you'll do a cripple."

We're _not_ sleeping together," she stated firmly, her eyes narrowed. It was the most absurd statement she had ever heard, but she knew Sharpay could say nearly _anything_ and people would believe her.

"That's not what the school will think," she warned her.

Shaking her head, Gabriella closed her eyes. What was she to do? No one was supposed to know that anything was going on between herself and Troy. Not even her friends knew. What would they think? She knew their reaction would be negative to her simply tutoring him, let alone if they thought there was more to it than that. Without thinking, she blurted, "Sharpay, I'll do anything you want if you don't tell."

Smirking, she stated, "It's so nice of you to offer. I do have a few ideas..."

* * *

At the end of the day, Gabriella was one of the last to leave the school. Her bag weighed more than when she arrived, primarily because of the addition of a few new textbooks. Groaning, she made her way to Coach Bolton's car. He stood at the driver's side, watching for her. Their eyes met briefly and he smiled slightly. It always amazed her how different Troy was compared to his father. They were almost complete opposites,

"Ready for round two?" he asked her as they got inside.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied, strapping on her seatbelt.

"So, how did yesterday go? I made Troy swear to me that he would be nice to you," Jack stated.

"It...went better than I expected," she answered honestly, biting her bottom lip. That was true, to an extent, she thought.

"I must commend you. I know how horrible he has treated you in the past, yet you're still willing to take him on," he started. "I've never met anyone else who could've done what you're doing." Jack paused for a moment, seeming to be warring with himself over what he would say next. Finally, he decided to add to his last statement, "Except for...maybe, my wife."

Uncomfortably, Gabriella shifted in the passenger's seat and stared out the window, avoiding eye contact. "It's not easy," she said, her voice somewhat strained. "I mean, yeah, I obviously can't trust him and I always have to be prepared for the worst, but I felt that if I didn't do this then no one else would, and I would be no better than the _friends_ who walked out on him."

"And no one would've blamed you if you had taken that route. It takes a lot of guts to be able to do what you're doing right now," Jack claimed. "I'm glad I picked you to help him. I really think that you can change him, or at least give him a wake-up call."

"Has Troy always acted this way?" she asked curiously, finally looking back at Jack.

Shaking his head, he replied, "He wasn't always this way," he paused, gathering his thoughts before continuing, "He was the sweetest kid you could ever meet, that is, until his mother passed away almost ten years ago."

Eyes wide in shock, Gabriella spoke, "I'm...so sorry to hear that. Is that why he acts the way he does?"

"He shut everyone out after that," Jack continued. "Because he experienced such immense pain at an early age he couldn't grasp the concept that not everyone he let inside would leave him and so he never let anyone get close enough to hurt him again."

Staring down at her feet, Gabriella felt guilt fill her heart, putting her stomach in knots. It all made sense to her now. His friends abandoning him had little to no effect on him because he never let them get close enough to hurt him. Sharpay leaving him had no effect because they were never emotionally close. He bullied people to make them fear him and not want to get to know him as a person. No longer did he have the power to intimidate. She couldn't help but to wonder how the rest of the student body would treat him when he returned. However, this answer was obvious. They would treat him exactly how he treated them.

"Do you...think the accident will change that?" she asked.

"To be honest, I don't know," he answered. "It's going to be a challenge, even for me, to get him to open up and let his defenses down. I can only imagine how he would be if you tried. Certainly he'll put up a struggle to not let you in, but I think your will is even stronger."

"I'll try," she stated quicker than she could think about what she had agreed to do. "I don't know if I can, but I want to help, regardless of what he's done to me and despite the fact that he hates me."

"I really don't think he hates you," he assured her.

"He made me lose most of my hair, he's made me do most of his homework for the last three years, he's threatened me, smacked me around, and much more. I really think that's a sign that he hates me," she argued.

"Sometimes that could be a sign that he does like you but is afraid of ruining his reputation so he set out to make your life miserable so he could replace the initial attraction," Jack explained.

"I don't think that's the case," she stated, although her mind was considering the thought. She knew that never in a million years could that be true, but what if it was?

When they arrived at the hospital, Gabriella waited patiently in the waiting room while Jack went to check on Troy. Butterflies crept up in her stomach but she suppressed her nerves. There was nothing to be afraid of now as far as Troy was concerned. Her biggest fear now was Sharpay.

She would never have a chance to rest tonight, she realized, sighing. Besides tutoring Troy and doing her own homework, Sharpay decided to make her do hers as well. That was only part of it. She also told her that, during school, she expected her to not wear her wig anymore, beginning the following day. Reluctantly, she agreed to that as well.

There was a bitter note to her thoughts as she thought about why she had agreed to this. Why would she agree to make her life more miserable all for the sake, primarily, of Troy's reputation? She owed him nothing, yet she felt sorry enough to take the fall. Of course, she didn't want those false rumors going around for her own sake, either. She would indefinitely have to tell her friends and parents the truth if that happened, and she knew that none of them would be happy about either option.

When Jack appeared a few minutes later, he motioned Gabriella forward and led her to his room. "His mood is about what it was yesterday," he informed her.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," she replied.

"And here we are," he said, stopping in front of his son's room. "I have a few errands to run but I should be back in around an hour."

Stepping inside the room, Gabriella looked toward the bed and found him sitting up, staring out the window. Quietly, she approached him as if afraid he would bite her head off if he heard her.

"Just bring a chair over here," he grumbled without looking at her. Doing as instructed, she pulled a chair beside his bed. Still, he refused to look at her.

"So, where would you like to start today?" she asked. "We were just assigned a new book to read in English. Our only homework for that class is to read it."

Groaning, he asked, "What is it?"

"The Great Gatsby," she answered, handing him the book. "Since you'll have plenty of time on your hands I expect you to have it finished by Sunday at the latest. It's not that long."

"That's what Sparknotes are for," he complained.

"Yeah? Well, do you have Internet access here?" she questioned. "I think not. Besides, Mrs. Brunner is giving us a mini-quiz Monday to see if we actually read it. The stuff she asks can't be found anywhere on Sparknotes or Cliffnotes. She made sure of that; she warned us today."

Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair, "What else is there?"

"There's some calculus, chemistry and history homework," she replied. "Fortunately, you have a gym and study hall so you didn't have a full schedule."

Troy snorted. "Like it would matter much either way." Gabriella couldn't stifle a giggle from escaping her lips. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

"Oh nothing," she denied. "It's just funny how you come across to the world as being perfect and having the world eating out of the palm of your hand, yet you are the most pessimistic person I've ever met."

"You know nothing about me," he told her.

"That's because you're afraid to let me know you," she claimed. "I can see the layers, Troy. There is so much more to you than the person you portray. I think who you are trying to be is all an act. I don't think the real you is anything like this guy you show. I want to see the real Troy Bolton."

"What are you, a shrink?" he snapped. "Haven't I made myself clear? I hate you."

"Why do you hate me?" she questioned, ignoring his attitude. "You know as much about me as I know about you."

"I don't need to explain my reasons," he started. "Although, your prying is really getting on my nerves."

"It's no wonder that the others abandoned you," she stated. "You never let anyone get close to you. They don't know the real you. They had nothing to miss."

"Maybe I like to keep my private life private," he retorted. "Now, can you just do what you came here to do and be gone?"

Flipping open the calculus book, Gabriella found the page she wanted and shoved it into his arms.

"Read that section and see if you understand it, which I seriously doubt given your grades."

Furiously, Troy glared at the page as he read, never looking up as he spoke, "You're the tutor. Shouldn't you be teaching me this stuff not making me learn it on my own?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. My mistake. I forgot your average in English is a sixty-nine percent. Here, maybe I should read it to you," she suggested, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Forget it," he growled, sending her a threatening glance. "You asked me why I hate you? It's obvious. You and the other nerds think you're better than everyone else because you're grades are perfect. You need to be shown that you're no better than everyone else."

"Yet you and your former friends think you're above everyone else," she argued. "We don't think our grades make us better. Just because you can't walk doesn't mean that I'm any better than you and vice versa. It's time that you realize that we're all equals. Just because they think they're above everyone else doesn't mean that are. You might think you're now at the bottom, but you can only be below the rest if you choose to be."

"Haven't you learned by now that reality isn't like a Disney movie?" he questioned, his eyes narrowed. "The _good_ guy doesn't win. He just gets stepped on by those better equipped for survival. The people willing to take what they want by force are the real winners in life, not the ones waiting around for a fairy godmother to make everything okay, or the ones who believe in pixie dust. None of that will ever happen, and so people waste their whole lives trying to be good but all they do is get stepped on. It's exactly the path _you_ are headed down."

Offended, Gabriella glared at him as she replied, "I follow rules and respect others because I have moral value. Unlike you, I have a conscience."

"But, don't you see where it got you? For two years you let me walk all over you and you never said a word, not to a teacher, administrator. Hell, your parents didn't know, either. It took me trying to drown you for someone of importance to find out. Now that I'm somewhere where I shouldn't be able to hurt you, here you are, tutoring me of all people. You're too giving and caring. They're your greatest weaknesses, and most likely it'll be your downfall."

"Did you ever think that if you had been a little more nicer to people then you wouldn't be here right now?" she questioned. "If you hadn't tried to drown me, then you wouldn't have gotten suspended, and then you would've never gotten in that accident."

Satisfied, she watched as he groaned in frustration and averted his gaze to the textbook. For the first time, she knew she had beaten Troy Bolton.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: The usual isn't mine, but Terrance is all mine.

* * *

Another day. More monotony.

Troy sighed as he stared at the clock which read seven AM. Even when he wasn't in school he was forced to get up earlier than he preferred. In around an hour, a nurse would walk in with his breakfast, another nurse would come in to check on him, and then he would sit around until twelve watching daytime television. Then, at twelve-thirty, as he had just found out the night before, he was being moved to another room, where he would have a roommate. He shuddered at the idea. He already knew it would be a guy, and he also knew that he would be a cripple like himself. It was the hospital's way of connecting them, and so the patients would have someone there going through similar trials. Not that Troy really wanted that. He'd never gone to anyone any other time; why should he start not?

Another change was coming to his routine. Physical therapy. His father had also suggested to his doctor that he receive emotional therapy. That would start the next day, alternating with the physical therapy, although Troy didn't see any point in physical therapy. He would remain like this for the remainder of his life and there was nothing that could be done about it.

Then, of course, there was his daily tutoring session with Gabriella. His _favorite_ part of the day. As infuriating as she was, he had to admit that she brought a change-up from the boredom of his daily hospital life. Other than his father, she was the only visitor he saw in a day's time. It was lonely, but it faded when she was there.

Grabbing the top book from his stack of textbooks, Troy stared at it apprehensively before deciding to flip it open. The Great Gatsby didn't sound like a very _intriguing_ story, but he decided it was better than anything on television. Besides, he figured it was better to get it out of the way, and then Gabriella couldn't nag at him for not reading it.

A few hours passed, and Troy continued reading. It didn't interest him in any way but he tried to get it over with. He couldn't remember the last time he had read this much at once, or the last time he read, period. He decided he would do just about anything out of boredom.

Troy hadn't realized it was one o'clock until someone walked in. His doctor, followed by a few nurses.

"All right, Troy," the doctor started. "We're going to move you now. But, first, you have to learn how to get into a wheelchair. You'll practice this a lot when you start therapy later, so for now we'll do the best we can."

Sitting up, Troy reluctantly removed the blanket covering his legs and stared at his dead limbs. Sitting in a wheelchair would be nothing for someone with the ability to bend their legs. For him, however, he knew it would be a challenge.

"Now, I'll need you to move so that your back is at the edge of the bed," he instructed. Doing as asked, he kept his eyes on his legs, grimacing at the fact that this was the only way he could ever get them to move. He heard the wheelchair knock softly against the bed, indicating that it was directly behind him. Placing his hands on his back, the doctor continued, " Now, just slide back into the wheelchair."

Groping for the arm rests, Troy pulled his body into the chair, nervous when it slid back a bit, but the doctor steadied it. Now came the real problem. Slowly, the doctor pulled the chair away from the bed, just enough so that only his feet remained on the bed. Then, each nurse grabbed one of his legs and bent it into place. Troy was surprised by how easily it was performed, although he felt weird about it all. He expected some sort of pain, or even just any feeling from the move, but there was none. When they said he was now a paraplegic they meant it to its fullest effect. Looking down momentarily, he still wondered how it would effect his sex life. He smirked at the idea of asking one of the nurses to test that.

"What about my stuff?" he asked, snapping his attention back to the task at hand. Mostly all he had was his textbooks, a pair of loose pants he used to wear while working out, and a t-shirt, both of which he would need today for therapy. His father was supposed to bring a few more outfits with him this afternoon.

"I'll get it, don't worry," one of the nurses stated, the blonde closest to the stack of books. Troy stared at her as she bent to get his books, but his gaze was soon pulled away as the doctor started wheeling him away. Exasperated, stared before him, wishing they would get to the new room as soon as possible.

There was one thing he had to admit. It was nice to finally leave his bed. Never before had he laid around so much in his life. He was usually an active person. Now, he couldn't even get up to go to the bathroom. Instead, he was stuck using a bedpan and calling a nurse every time it needed changed. That was embarrassing, not to mention uncomfortable. He smirked momentarily, wondering how grossed out Gabriella would be if she was around for that.

Once they were in an elevator, the doctor pressed for the fourth floor which was four rooms down from this floor. Luckily, there were no interruptions.

As the doctor wheeled him down the hall, he saw various other ranging from different ages appearing to have similar problems he was having. A few appeared to be older with only seemingly slight disabilities. _Stroke patients_, he realized suddenly. His grandmother had a stroke when he was five, but she ended up not making it to th_e _recovery stages_. _He prayed that one of them wasn't his roommate. If he had to have anyone at all, he preferred it to be someone at least around his own age, thirties at the most. He doubted the odds of it being another teenager. After all, how many other teenagers suffer this sort of injury? He odds were slim, he believed.

Finally, the doctor stopped in the doorway of a room and turned the wheelchair. _This is it_, he thought, silently dreading this moment. When he was inside, he found one bed empty and the other had a curtain going the entire way around it. He groaned, realizing he wasn't getting the window view again.

"Here is your new room," the doctor announced, sliding the chair next to the bed. "Do you want to just stay in the chair since you have therapy soon?"

"Yeah, that's fine," he stated, glancing around. The room was similar to his old room, only it wasn't a single room, meaning this one was larger, yet he had less room. God figure, he thought.

Once his doctor and nurses were gone, Troy turned to the other side of the room and listened as another doctor spoke to his roommate, "Now, you're settled for the day. You have physical therapy tomorrow at ten, so be up this time. You can't sleep until noon everyday."

"Yes, sir," a young voice stated, startling Troy a bit. He was expecting someone older, but this guy sounded as though he was around his age.

Finally, the doctor pulled the curtain back, revealing his roommate who was sprawled out on his bed. As he predicted, the guy was young with a fairly dark complexion. He looked to be around his age, twenty at the oldest. He was also studying Troy.

Once the doctor was gone, the boy decided to speak, "Finally, they decide I'm worthy of a roommate. The name is Terrance."

Troy hesitated but finally said, "I'm Troy."

"Well, Troy, let me be the first to welcome you to the therapy floor," he stated. "So, what are you in for?"

Troy suppressed a chuckle, for he sounded as though they were in prison. "Car accident," he answered. "You?"

"Diving accident," he replied.

"How long have you been in here?" Troy asked him.

"Since August," he answered. "And I'll be in here for at least two more months."

"Wow," was all he could say. "I'm hope I'm not here that long."

"You will be, trust me," he stated. "It's mandatory, depending on the injury. But, of course, I'm a quadriplegic. You're obviously a paraplegic so you might only be here for two or three months."

"That's _really_ promising," he retorted sarcastically.

"Look on the bright side. You can still move half your body," he claimed. "So, how many visitors do you normally get?"

"My dad is the only visitor I have had so far," he stated. "Then, I have a tutor who comes regularly."

"That must suck," Terrance replied. "Unless your tutor is a really gorgeous female."

Unable to contain himself, Troy started laughing. "She is the farthest thing from that."

"What's her name?" he asked.

"Gabriella," he answered.

"She's smokin' then," he stated confidently, making him laugh that much more.

"Trust me, she's not, but she's yours for the taking if you want her," he stated, calming down.

"I can tell how hot a girl is just by the name. Give me another girl's name," he prompted.

"Sharpay," he said automatically.

Terrance grimaced before stating, "Ugly as hell. Who would name their child that, anyway?"

"My ex-girlfriend's parents," he replied.

Terrance wrinkled his nose in response. "Dude, you really do have terrible tastes in women."

"You never even met them or saw them," Troy defended. "You barely know their names."

"Sharpay is a dog," he stated simply. "A really ugly and expensive dog."

"Expensive, yes," he agreed.

"Gabriella's hot, though. Like a firecracker," Terrance continued. "Really sweet, too. The type that would fuel a sugar addiction."

"Good grief. Keep this up and you'll be asking me to ask her if she'll marry you," Troy stated, shaking his head. "Quit fantasizing, man. You'll only be led to disappointment."

"I see how it is," he started. "You want her all for yourself."

"Dude, trust me, you can have her," he replied. "I don't want anything to do with her."

"If you didn't want her, you wouldn't be trying to shut me up about her. You wouldn't care," he argued.

"She's practically bald under her wig," he stated, ignoring his accusations.

"Dude, I can't move any part of my body," he bluntly stated. "I think I can look past her hair if she can look past the fact that I'm confined to a bed for life."

"Point taken," he muttered.

"So, when will she come again?" he asked eagerly.

"I think she's coming tonight," he replied. "She said it could vary, that I wouldn't really know from day to day until she actually came."

"I hope it's tonight," he eagerly told him. "I can't wait to prove you wrong. It's all in the name."

Rolling his eyes, Troy silently wondered if it was too late to share a room with one of the elderly. He knew he was in for a very long couple of months.

* * *

AN: Wow, an update in under five months, there's something you don't see everyday lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this, and thanks as always for the reviews. I'm anxious to see your reactions towards Terrance. He will become a prominent character as long as he's in the hospital, and I have a lot planned for him that I'm really excited to write. Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up by the end of July so it shouldn't be a long wait.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: I noticed something when I looked over the last chapter I posted about a week ago. It was missing the little flashback/dream thing I normally use. It wasn't intentional but I decided to make it even so I didn't use one for this chapter, either. It worked out well, anyway, because this chapter already came out to be twice as long as I wanted without that part. It came out to be nearly 11 word pages long. I can't remember the last time I've ever written something that long, although I know the longest chapter I've ever written in my life came to over thirteen pages...Anyway, I tried to keep it interesting, and we get to see Gabriella's very first Terrance encounter, so enjoy and thanks as always for reviewing!

Disclaimer: The usual isn't mine.

* * *

Only someone who was insanely optimistic would assume that Gabriella's first day of school without her wig would turn out okay.

She decided not to take the wig off until she got off the bus, feeling that there was nothing Sharpay could do as long as she wasn't actually in school. Without it, she felt completely alienated, and the dozens of pairs of eyes gawking at her didn't help matters any.

Without her hair, or even her fake hair, she felt entirely vulnerable. The air against her scalp felt wrong, but she was thankful that it was slowly beginning to grow back. As she made her way to her locker, she contemplated why exactly she was going through with this. Why should she subject to Sharpay's demands just so people wouldn't hear a false story made up to destroy primarily Troy Bolton's reputation? Why should she drag herself through the dirt just so he would have it easy when he came back? She was just too nice, she thought bitterly.

"Oh, Montez, I see you followed one order," an icy voice cooed from behind her. Whirling around, she glared at Sharpay who just smirked as she continued, "Did you do the other thing I asked?"

On her left shoulder, she carried a second bag full of Sharpay's books and homework alone. Reluctantly, she handed it over to her. "Everything is done," she replied. "Now what?"

"I'll have tonight's homework for you at the end of the day. Meet me at my locker. Oh, and there's more. Chad really wants to see you in the gym," she stated before strutting away, her high heels clicking against the floor.

Groaning, Gabriella grudgingly headed towards the gym, ready to take whatever came at her. Again, she questioned why she was subjecting herself to this. After everything Troy had done to her, he deserved whatever Sharpay and his former friends wanted to do to him now. Why should she care? After all, if the roles were reversed, she knew that he would never do this for her. If anything, he would offer to _help_ them.

Her stomach felt tied in knots, making her queasy. Purposely, she was walking right through a trap door as she opened the gym door. Closing her eyes, she bravely stepped one foot inside, and that was when she felt it.

Gushing liquid hit her instantly, coming from several directions. She shrieked but couldn't open her eyes, seeing as something was hitting them. She wanted to run, but when she stepped back, the door was locked.

Running for the other set of doors, Gabriella finally managed to open her eyes and she could finally see what was on her: part of it soaked her like water, but there was some unidentifiable green liquid mixed with it. She knew there was no getting it out of her clothes.

"Going somewhere, nerd?" she heard Chad sneer just as she slipped on the gym floor.

"Yeah, got somewhere to be?" Zeke taunted. "We're just getting started."

"Leave me alone!" she yelled defiantly. Rarely did she take Troy's torment without protest. There was no way she would let them get to her, either.

"Why should we?" Chad questioned, snatching her bag.

"Give me that!" she hissed, but they all merely laughed at her.

"Why should we?" Zeke stated as Chad ripped a blue binder from her bag. Gabriella's breath hitched in her throat, for that wasn't one that contained her work. It was the folder she was keeping Troy's papers to be handed in. _Maybe they won't notice_, she thought, biting her bottom lip nervously. Of course they would, however. She was never granted good luck.

Without looking at the papers, Chad ripped several out and shreaded them in half before dropping them in the gook on the floor. _Ruined_, she realized. The one time Troy actually did his own homework his _friends_ decided to destroy his work. She couldn't help but to wonder if that was why he never did it himself before.

"Oops, I hope you didn't need that," Chad said as he and the others laughed it up.

Before she could reply, footsteps were heard coming from the boy's locker room. "Whoa, what's going on out here?" _Jack_. Never before had she been so relieved to hear any voice. He owed it to her to get them off her back, she figured.

"Oh, hey, Coach," Jason Cross, greeted, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "We were just fooling around." By now, Gabriella realized that everyone was standing around her, shielding her from Jack's gaze.

"Looks like a green slime bomb went off in here," Jack stated. "Care to explain?"

Everyone looked at each other for an answer to this, one that wasn't the truth. Of course, she realized. This was usually the part where Troy came in with this brilliant, plausible explaination that the teacher would believe. However, they had no leader. Therefore, this plan failed the moment they thought of it. Gabriella couldn't fight the smirk from her lips.

"Just as I thought," Jack said when nobody spoke. "Step aside everyone, but nobody leaves, got it?"

"Yes, Coach," they all muttered, dividing like the red sea. As they did so, Gabriella's eyes locked with Jack's, and she saw his face initially light up with recognition before turning to rage as he then gazed back at his team.

"What were you guys thinking?" he shouted, his booming voice causing even Gabriella to flinch as she backed against the wall for support. "You guys are acting worse than five-year-olds! Half of you are seniors, you should know better! You guys are supposed to set an example, not torment those that might be a little bit different than you!" Jack took a deep breath and paused for a moment before looking back to Gabriella. For a moment, she stopped breathing as she noticed the sudden anguish in his eyes, and she felt that she knew, in that moment, what he was thinking before he even said it. "Take a lesson from my son, your _former_ team captain," Jack started, his voice suddenly pained instead of angry. "What happened to him started when he got suspended for exactly what all of you were doing just moments ago, to the same girl at that. If he hadn't been bullying others to begin with, he would be standing there, laughing and fooling around with you all right now, but instead, he's currently lying in a hospital bed, and the only joking around he'll ever be doing again will be from his wheelchair. That could be any one of you standing here right now, so my suggestion to you is to knock off this crap right now because the next person I catch tormenting _anyone_ in this school is off the team," Jack suddenly turned to Gabriella and his eyes softened. "And, Gabriella, I trust you to report to me the next time any of these guys gives you a problem."

"Um, y-yes, sir," she stammered, clutching her bag to her chest. She was thankful that no one else turned to her. She hated being the center of attention.

"Good," he replied, giving her a slight smile before he turned back to his team, his face hard again. "Now, since you guys like to create messes, I expect that you like to clean them just as much." The guys groaned as Gabriella chuckled lightly, caussing several of the guys to glare at her. "All of you go to the janitor's closet and grab some mops. I expect this entire gym floor to be completely _spotless_ by the end of first period."

"Coach, will we have notes to miss class?" Chad asked.

Shaking his head, he replied, "You should've thought about that _before_ you decided to do it. So, if you get detention, it's completely your faults because no one is getting a note from me. I suggest you all get started _now_."

Groans came from each of the guys as Gabriella watched them file out of the gym, apparently to go to the janitor's closet. As the last one left, she realized she was now alone with Jack Bolton.

"Sorry about all that," Jack said, grabbing the ruined papers from the floor. Looking them over, he said, "If this is homework for today, I can explain it to your teacher what happened."

"Actually, that's Troy's homework that I'm supposed to hand in," she stated, sighing as she stood up. "I can re-do them in my study hall and just hand them in at the end of the day. I've gotten good at forging his handwriting over the last few years."

"No," Jack stated firmly. "I'll tell the teachers what happened and _he_ can redo them. Maybe he needs a little taste of what he's done to you over the years."

Smiling slightly, she replied, "He won't be happy about this."

Shrugging, Jack told her, "It's no longer about tip-toing around him to make him happy. It's about teaching him life lessons. He needs to get used to it, because as soon as he comes back, which might not be until April, he's going to be hit with reality immediately. He won't be able to bully his way through life anymore."

"Can you do me a favor and start keeping his assignments with you?" she asked tentatively. "I feel they're…_safer_ with you than with me."

"It's the least I could do," he told her as she handed over the binder.

"The binder is divided into all of his classes, going in the order in which he has each one," she started. "On each divider sheet there is the teacher, room number and class listed. Just give it back to me before I tutor him each night and I'll take care of keeping it together. I just need you to take it after each session and give the work to his teachers."

"Very organized," he complimented, flipping through the pages.

"The teachers will also soon start handing us back his work, and so I have another binder designated for his returned work," she said, handing him a second binder, only this one was green.

"You're doing a good job with him," he stated, accepting the other binder.

"It's only been a couple of days," she replied, feeling a slight blush creep up on her cheeks.

"I know, but the mere fact that you can get him to even so much as do his homework is more than anyone else could ever do," he explained as the warning bell rang. "I'll let you go now. I'll see you after school, right?"

"Of course," she replied, heading for the doors. "I'll see you later, Mr. Bolton."

As soon as she was out of the gym, she finally remembered her problem. She groaned; her outfit was indefinitely ruined. However, there was one thing she doubted the boys counted on that only Troy knew about. After the first time he ruined one of her outfits, she started keeping a spare in her locker. As soon as he realized this, however, he started coming up with ways to ruin the other one as well. She doubted that the others were smart enough to figure it out, though.

Making a quick stop in homeroom, Gabriella explained to Ms. Darbus that she needed to change her outfit, never mentioning the basketball players who would be late for class or not show up at all.

After excusing herself to the bathroom, Gabriella nearly ran into someone on her way out. "In a hurry, Gabi?" Kelsi teased her, before noticing her green-stained clothes. "They got you?" she assumed.

Nodding, she replied, "I think I liked it better when Troy was the one in charge of bullying me. Only on occasion did they all gang up on me, but now it's becoming almost everyday."

"Never did I think I'd hear you say you _miss _Troy Bolton," she commented as Gabriella grabbed her clothes from her locker.

"I don't miss him," she argued. It was the truth, she thought. After all, she spent enough one-on-one time with him as it was.

"Things are different with him gone," Kelsi mussed. "The lunk-headed basketball players are kind of disorganized with him gone. You know, this is the first time in…I don't even remember that I wasn't shoved into a locker or something else yet today. They left me alone today so far, just so they could plot out what to do to you. It's pathetic; it takes all of them to do what Troy could've done himself."

"I would like to see what happens when he returns," Gabriella claimed.

"Is he coming back?" Kelsi asked, her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"In March or April at the earliest," she answered. "Or, well…so I've heard."

"Well, that gives you about three to four months of freedom," she told her.

Forcing a smile, she said, "I barely know how to react…He's not here to terrorize me everyday. Hey, I wonder how much damage he can inflict from a wheelchair?"

"Hm, well, he could run his chair into you, perhaps run you over," she stated, seemingly amused by the idea. "Or, you know, trap you with the wheels, but I don't know what he would do after he did that."

"Perhaps," she replied. "Anyway, I better go change. I'll see you later, Kels."

"Oh wait," Kelsi started. "What happened to your wig? Don't tell me they stole it again."

"I-I don't want to wear it anymore," she lied, forcing another smile. "My hair's growing back. Soon it'll look okay."

"I don't believe you," Kelsi replied, shaking her head. "There's something going on, but I don't understand why you won't tell me."

"Nothing is going on," she denied. "Anyway, I should really get going…"

"That's what they all say," Kelsi muttered as Gabriella walked away.

* * *

As the final bell rang for the day, Gabriella felt the typical butterflies fill her stomach as she fled her government class. Soon, she would have to see Troy. She couldn't help but to wonder what he would have in store for the day. Somehow, his stubbornness and unwillingness to cooperate were amusing. Yet, still, she somehow always managed to break through that and make him work. She took triumph in making him do the things he didn't want to do, for it seemed as though he was the type who never had to do what he didn't want to do.

Before she could leave, however, she groaned as she remembered what Sharpay had stated that morning. She would have to meet her again before she left. Seeing Sharpay was not something that she looked forward to, but compared to the others she was relatively harmless, _alone _at least. Without Troy glued to her side, she served as no more than an annoying gossip queen. However, when she approached her locker, she discovered that she wasn't alone...

Pressed against Sharpay's locker, Chad and Sharpay were involved in a very heated make-out session. Gabriella thought that seeing this out of her and Troy was the most sickening sight, but she didn't know which was worse. The two of them didn't notice her at first, for they were too caught up in what they were doing, but, finally, Gabriella spoke, "I have better things to do than watch the two of you make out all afternoon."

Finally, the two pulled apart and glared at her. Chad was the first to speak, "Well, if it isn't Coach's little pet."

"I'm nobody's pet," she growled, glaring at him. "But, remember, if you give me or anyone else anymore grief, I will happily tell him."

"I don't know why he's suddenly so protective of you," Sharpay started. "After all, you are the reason his son is where he is right now."

"Coach Bolton was right. He brought it entirely on himself," Gabriella claimed. "But, what he doesn't deserve is to be abandoned by everyone who once claimed to care about him when he's at his lowest."

"What do you care?" Chad questioned. "Oh, that's right. You've been seeing him ever since he woke up. You're obviously fooling around with him, because a cripple is all you can hope to get. But, I will give you props. At one point, he _was _an asset."

"I'm not doing _anything_ with him," she denied. "But, I will tell you one thing. When you look in a mirror again, which, for you, Sharpay, I'm sure will be in about two minutes from now, give yourselves a long hard look and answer this question: what makes _you_ better than anyone else?"

"We don't have time to waste on you," Sharpay hissed. "Take this bag and get out of my sight."

Taking the bag, Gabriella started walking away, but someone kicked her legs, causing her to trip. She heard Chad, followed by Sharpay, laughing, and her hands clenched tightly into fists. Forcing herself up, she refused to look back at them as she walked away.

* * *

Arriving at Coach Bolton's car, she waited patiently for him to exit the school. After the earlier incident, she couldn't help but to feel a sense of security around him. As long as she remained on his good side and continued tutoring his son, she knew that he would continue to break up ugly incidents like the one from this morning instead of turning a blind eye as he so often did before. From what Gabriella could see, Troy's accident seemed to have significantly changed him. He was now looking at the idea of possibly never getting Troy out of his house, and she didn't know if Troy could ever have kids of his own, either. There were many things Jack was forced to accept all at once, some that she might not have been aware of. Once he was home, she wondered how he would manage to do some of the things that most people took for granted, like getting dressed, taking a shower…Mr. Bolton, she realized, would probably have to help him do almost everything, but then what would happen to him if something were to happen to Jack?

Remembering her wig, Gabriella dug through her bag until she found the mess of hair. Just then, she noticed Jack's lean figure leaving the school and heading for her. As he drew closer, she gave him a small smile which he returned. It was weird, but she was starting to feel more comfortable around him. She guessed that they started _bonding_ because of the accident.

"Ready for round three?" he asked her, unlocking the car.

"As ready as ever," she replied, getting in the passenger seat.

"He was transferred today," he started. "He's on the therapy floor. He's also been given a roommate. I called him right before he had therapy and he told me that his roommate is annoying yet entertaining all at once."

"Oh joy," Gabriella replied sarcastically. "Well, it'll be like a three-ring circus in there, even though there's only two people."

Jack chuckled, starting the car. "Well, we'll see how it goes. Though, I'm not sure who to feel more sorry for. Troy or his roommate."

"The roommate, definitely," she replied instantly. "He sounds like a funny guy. Troy will only bring his mood down for sure."

Conversation seemed to dwindle on the way to the hospital. Neither of them brought up the subject of what happened earlier, for there was really nothing left to say. Gabriella, especially, didn't want to think about it, much less talk about it.

When they arrived, Gabriella followed Jack to the elevator and watched as he pressed to go up. Soon, the elevator doors slid open and they stepped inside. Jack then pressed for the fourth floor and they were soon moving uninterrupted.

Stepping out, Gabriella glanced around as Jack led her down the hallway. Patients and nurses alike walked by them, the patients usually with the help of a walker or something similar. She wondered if, someday, that would ever be Troy again. From what limited knowledge she had on paraplegics, she knew that some special cases were able to regain limited use of their legs. She was also never one to support stem-cell research, but now she was considering the idea. Perhaps she was considering it now because she actually knew someone with the problem, whereas she was against it before because it never had a direct effect on her life. At least for the time being, she considered Troy to be a part of her life. She was now spending more time with him than she currently did her own friends, and what little bit she spent with her friends she was usually making up alibis and lying. It was easy to object to something when it had no impact on her, but now that stem cell research could, in fact, help someone she knew and _arguably_ cared about, she was giving the idea a chance.

Jack finally stopped in front of a room and spoke, snapping her from her thoughts, "I'll go back for a minute so just wait here."

Nodding, she watched him walk inside. She felt compelled to eavesdrop, but she resisted the urge. It wasn't long before the basketball coach returned. Shaking his head and sighing, he told her, "He's all yours."

Hesitantly, Gabriella started walking into the room. Almost instantly, she heard his voice.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Troy retorted, a smirk on his face as he watched her walk to his bedside. In the other bed, she noticed another occupant: a young African-American teenager who looked to be at least their age, if not a few years older. She noticed that he, too, was staring at her, only the look in his eyes showed something different, only could be described as…_amazement_?

Turning her attention back to Troy, she replied, "Gee, that has to be the nicest greeting you've given me yet."

Troy chuckled. There was definitely something different about him today, for he seemed happier. She wondered if his roommate was helping his attitude problem, or maybe the doctors just changed his medications…

Well, either way, she knew that he wouldn't like the news she was about to deliver, and so she decided to get it out of the way now. "Troy, before we start today, there's something that you should know," she started. "Your _friends_ got a hold of my bag this morning and some of your homework got shredded to bits. I told your dad that I could redo it, but he thinks that you should be the one to redo it, seeing as how many times you've forced me to have to redo mine…."

"Whoa, wait, they're still bothering you?" he asked. This was a different reaction than the one she expected. She expected him to overlook the fact that she was still being tormented and focus on the idea of having to redo his work.

"What did you expect?" she questioned. "Your ex is blackmailing me into doing whatever she wants and your former teammates were still bullying me…until your dad caught them today. He threatened them, and I think it worked…at least, I hope so."

"They aren't afraid of him," Troy stated. "It might work for a few days or even a week, but they'll come back at you."

"I think I would rather have you back as opposed to dealing with them," she claimed. "But, what do you care? You should be glad that someone else has taken your place of ruining my life."

Shaking his head, he replied, "No, I'm not happy about it."

Eyes wide in surprise, she said, "Oh. Why is that?"

"We claim victims like territory, in case you haven't figured that out yet," he explained. "Regardless of everything, you're still my victim, _my territory_."

"Well, in that case, I hope you have fun trying to find a new tutor," she stated, glaring at him in contempt. She thought he was a step above this now, but clearly she was wrong.

"Gabriella, wait, I didn't mean that!" he denied, a hint of desperation in his voice, causing her to stop. "What I mean is, you're still technically my victim, but I don't want to do anything to you. You're just still considered my territory, meaning the others should be leaving you alone at least until I actually return."

"Well, did you ever think that maybe the reason why I'm getting this treatment is _because_ of you?" she questioned, crossing her arms tentatively. "Sharpay saw me in here after she dumped you. She has all sorts of rumors she wants to spread but is instead using them as blackmail against us. If I don't do whatever they say, then they'll leak them. They say it's more to tarnish your reputation than mine."

"Then, why are you doing it?" he asked. "If it's more to harm me than you, then why are you torturing yourself?"

"Would you honestly rather have your reputation ruined and me safe as to me taking the torment to keep it intact?" she questioned, surprised by his response.

"I just believe in every man for himself," he replied. "What good would you get in return by doing all this for me? What are you gaining?"

"I don't want anything from you, other than for you to give me a chance instead of always hating me," she explained. "And, also, if maybe someday you ever want to do something nice for me in return, that would be nice."

Looking to the other side of the room, Troy snickered and said, "I'll do something nice for you right now. Ignore the guy in the other bed."

Finally turning to the other boy, Gabriella saw him grin broadly at her. "Dude, I told you she was hot! It's all in the name!"

Gabriella felt a deep blush stain her cheeks as she hesitantly turned back to Troy, "Um, Troy, care to explain?"

"Gabriella, this is Terrance," he introduced. "He has been nagging me since my transfer to meet you. He said that your name indicated that you were…_attractive_…so he's been dying to see if he was right."

"Hey, beautiful, why don't you come over here?" Terrance asked her, winking playfully at her. Without giving it much thought, Gabriella walked over to him. "I'd shake your hand or something, but that's kind of impossible," he stated, the smile never leaving his face as he looked up at her. "You know, Troy over there tried to say that you were ugly, but then he thought Sharpay, a _dog, _was attractive. I swear, the boy needs glasses or something."

Giggling, Gabriella glanced back at Troy who was glaring at Terrance, "I'm right here, you know," he stated. "I have ears."

"Good, then I hope you heard that," he retorted, turning his attention back to Gabriella. "Honey," he started. "If he's being too much of an ass, you can come tutor me. I may have already graduated, but I'm sure there's _plenty_ you can still teach me."

"So…if you already graduated, how old are you?" she asked him timidly, unable to hide her blush or the smile from her face. With only a few minutes of knowing him_, _she already noted the significant difference between the two boys.

"Nineteen," he answered. "I was going to go to college, but then the accident happened in August and changed everything, so now I'm stuck here with a very…_very _gorgeous Latina and an ass…But, hey, thanks to _it_ I have you, so the price is worth the reward."

"You're lucky I can't move my legs or else you would be dead right now," Troy threatened. It was hard to tell if he was actually mad or just pretending, Gabriella thought.

Ignoring Troy, Terrance told her, "I think he's jealous because I'm the one with a pretty girl at my side and not him, but I don't think I can give you back to him."

"Aw, is Troy jealous?" Gabriella teased, looking back at Troy with a teasing grin.

"No, I feel sorry for him," Troy denied. "I just want my work so you can leave soon."

"Well, I don't want her to leave so quite down," Terrance complained.

"No, Troy's right, unfortunately," she stated, slowly walking back over to Troy's side. "I have to walk home, and so the sooner we get done here the better it is for me."

"And me," Troy added.

"Keep it up and I might go be Terrance's tutor," Gabriella warned.

"You can talk to your new boyfriend later," he replied. "Right now, though, I need my work."

"I'll give you the stuff you have to redo first," she stated. "By the way, have you started reading the Great Gatsby?"

"Actually, I'm about half-way done," he stated. "I had _a lot_ of downtime this morning."

"That's good," she stated, biting her bottom lip nervously. He was further into the book than she was, but she remembered that she had barely any time to read, whereas he was cooped up in bed most of the day. If she was the one stuck here, she knew that she could've probably been well ahead on schoolwork by now.

"And, then, you can come back to me," Terrance interjected.

"Dude, is something wrong with you?" Troy asked him incredulously.

"Do you know how long it's been since I've seen a girl as beautiful as you?" Terrance asked, still looking at Gabriella while ignoring Troy. "_Never_, that's when."

"Then, you must live under a rock," Troy retorted as Gabriella smacked his shoulder.

"No, you're just blind," he argued, turning back to her as he continued, "If you're still single when I get out of this hospital, hit me up."

Giggling, she replied, "I will."


	12. Chapter 12

AN: It took me four months but I FINALLY finished this chapter. This chapter would've been twice as long but I decided to save part 2 for a later chapter. If I didn't, it would've been 20 pages long and I don't think anyone would've wanted to sit through that. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it and keep reading because, after this chapter, Gabriella's life is about to get much worse...

Disclaimer: You should know by now what I own and what I don't.

* * *

_The graveyard was eerily silent as Jack Bolton and his son stared at the metal plate before them. Dressed in a black jacket that was a size too large and matching pants, Troy grasped his father's hand as he stared up at him. Jack's expression was unreadable as he stared at the words on the stone. Looking down again, Troy silently read the words: 'Lucille Bolton 1967-2000 Loving wife and mother.'_

_Minutes ago, this area had been filled with people dressed in black. Now, however, as Troy glanced behind them, he found no one.  
_

_Looking back to his father, Troy waited for any sign of reaction but received none. He didn't quite understand what was happening, other than that his mother had been absent for several days, and that her name was on this stone. He continued staring at his father, hoping for some insight as to what was going on, but his father just continued to study the ground. Impatiently, he broke the silence._

"_Daddy, where's mommy?" he asked. Finally, Jack looked down at him and sighed._

"_She's not here, Troy," he replied softly._

"_I know that," he replied, sighing impatiently. "When will she be back? When will we see her again?"_

* * *

"_You can't see her," he started, suddenly dropping to his knees so that they were at eye level. Gently, he placed his index finger in the center of Troy's chest and continued, "But, she'll always be right here." _

The tutoring session seemed to drag on for longer than the last couple of days. Possibly that was because it had, thanks to Terrance. It was because of his constant interruptions that Gabriella ended up staying an extra hour. This couldn't keep happening, Troy thought. He already dealt with her for much longer than he wished. Hopefully, it wouldn't continue happening. Terrance would soon tire of her, he thought. He was just like a little kid with a new toy; a poor, deprived kid, he mentally added.

"Okay, seriously, dude. Something's wrong with you." Troy's head snapped to the other side of the room where Terrance lie with a wide grin on his face. Finally, Gabriella had left the room minutes ago, leaving them alone. "That girl is _fi-ine_."

Troy snorted. "You're probably the only guy who would ever think that."

"Man, what's your problem?" Terrance asked, sounding more agitated than he'd heard him yet. All traces of humor vanished from his face as he frowned in displeasure. "Why are you so mean to her?"

"Because," he started. "I _cannot_ stand her. She's annoying."

"How is she annoying?" he questioned. "Perhaps she's too nice for your liking? Do you like bitches who will take any chance to hurt someone else? Is that the kind of girl you think is hot? Like, that Sharpay chick…She sounds like a _real_ winner."

"You know nothing about her, okay?" Troy snapped. "All you see is what's on the outside."

"Okay, then, enlighten me," Terrance prompted. "Where is she from? How many places has she lived? How long has she lived in Albuquerque? Are her parents divorced? Does she have any siblings?"

"She's been in Albuquerque for around two years now," he started. "I think her parents are still together. As for the rest…I have no idea."

"What are her hobbies?" he continued.

"I…don't know," he admitted. "But all these questions are meaningless."

"No," he argued. "The answers to those questions tell a lot about a person. If her favorite hobby is reading, for example, that means that she's probably very introverted and quiet, and that she keeps to herself."

"Look, I don't care about any of that," Troy claimed. "All I know is that I hate her."

"That's not true," he denied. "I was watching you while I was flirting with her. I saw the aggressive look on your face, like you would've ripped my head off. If you hated her, then you wouldn't care that I liked her. You would just tell me to go for it and sit back and laugh. But, no, you're instead trying to stop me. That means you like her."

"Maybe I'm just trying to spare you. Ever think of that?" he snapped. "But, whatever. I'm done. If you really want her then go for it. You'll just have to learn the hard way."

"Okay then, I will go for it," he declared.

"That doesn't mean _she _will want _you,"_ he stated. "Face it, we're lemons. We're going to have to probably win the lottery or something to get a girl, and then once she spends the money she'd be done with us."

"Maybe for you," he stated. "But, I think I can do well with the ladies. I mean, you saw how Gabriella was…all it takes is a little charm. It doesn't matter if I'm crippled or not. Girls love to be complimented and flirted with. Every girl wants that attention, regardless of who it's from. Especially girls like her, whom I can tell has been deprived of such treatment, although I'm not quite sure why…"

"Guys are afraid to go out with her and her group of weird nerd friends," Troy stated. "At school, they're constantly tormented…by me and well, my former friends. They're afraid we'd mess with them, too, if they so much as talk to them, with good reason…we would."

"That's horrible," he replied, seemingly bothered by this. "What have they ever done to you?"

"It's the way of life," he explained. "The jocks are on top, the nerds at the bottom…"

"Sounds like tyranny to me," Terrance commented. "You guys _think_ you're so cool now, but wait until you're out of high school and in the real world. It's the former nerds that'll be the bosses, and all of you will be working for them. There, they'll have all the power to make your lives a living Hell."

Sighing, Troy realized he had a point. Karma was already coming at him. First, the car accident and now Gabriella was his tutor instead of his victim, meaning he now had to listen to her. To top it off, he was now considered to be at the rock bottom, as low as a person could be on the status quo. He had no one to help him, unless he counted Gabriella. Although, he knew that, once he was back in school, she would be done with him, too.

"I'm shocked she even wants to tutor you," Terrance started again, startling him from his thoughts. "She has every right to condemn you for how you've treated her. You need to show her some respect, because one day you'll wish you hadn't pushed her away. One day, she'll walk out of your life for good and you'll realize she was the best thing to ever happen to you."

"Dude, she's inadvertently the reason why I'm here," Troy snapped, suddenly agitated.

"Because you were messing with her," Terrence finished. "Again I say that karma can strike at any moment. So, if you want good luck, then be nice to her. Heck, you might actually _like_ her if you gave her a chance."

"Like that'll ever happen," he muttered.

"Just try it," he pressed. "I won't stop nagging until you do."

Rolling his eyes, he replied, "Fine. I'll humor you, but it's a waste of time."

Grinning broadly, Terrance stated, "The only reason it won't work is because you're too stubborn."

"I'm not stubborn," he denied. "I'm just-"

"Uptight, cynical, pessimistic, adamant, bullheaded, cantankerous, hardheaded, unreasonable, pigheaded-"

"Okay, I get it!" Troy snapped, glaring at his roommate. "God, out of everyone in this hospital, why did I get stuck with you for a roommate?"

"Would you rather have some old man complaining about prune juice?" Terrance questioned.

"Yes," Troy replied. "At least he would sleep more often."

"Fine," Terrence stated, frowning. "I know when I'm not wanted. I'm going to sleep."

It didn't feel like much time had passed between the time Troy fell asleep and the time he woke up, and he woke up feeling just as tired as when he had fallen asleep. Although, he was glad to see that Terrance was gone, meaning that there wouldn't be any early morning confrontations to worry about. Then, it dawned on him that today was the day he had been dreading. Today, he started emotional therapy.

Unlike physical therapy, emotional counseling wasn't a requirement. It was only a recommendation for people in this situation. It was designed to help patients cope with their injuries and prepare them mentally for life after the hospital. Troy had turned it down, but it was Jack who demanded that he get it. Now, there was no turning back.

Groaning, Troy looked down at his legs as he made a feeble attempt to move them. As predicted, however, nothing happened. It was as if the part of his brain that controlled this movement had vanished. He didn't think he would ever get over the accident no matter how many hours he spent in therapy.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, he realized it was only eight AM. In around half an hour, he would receive his breakfast, and then at ten he had therapy. Life was _great_.

Looking to his work stack, he remembered that he did have some math work that Gabriella wanted him to try on his own. He never particularly liked math, but he knew what would happen if he refused to do it. If he didn't pass his classes, then he would fail his senior year and have to come back the following year, which would lead to that much more torture and humiliation, given his current situation. It was better to grin and bear it now than go through it all again next year.

_Find two non-negative numbers whose sum is 9 and so that the product of one number and the square of the other number is a maximum. _"What the hell?" Troy said aloud, irritated. He knew that Gabriella had gone over the unit with him the previous night, but he hadn't paid much attention to her. His attention at that time was on the clock. Deciding to hold off on that, he grabbed The Great Gatsby from the nightstand.

It wasn't until he heard the sound of a bed being wheeled toward his room that he noticed how much time had elapsed since he started reading. In a way, he was relieved to have Terrance back, for at least he would have someone there to help him kill time. Maybe he could even tell him what to expect at counseling.

When the nurses had cleared, leaving the boys alone, Troy turned to his roommate and saw his motionless figure lying on his back, as expected. He couldn't imagine how that would feel, not being able to move at all. Looking at him, he realized how lucky he truly was.

"Good morning, sunshine," Terrence greeted, his lips curled into a teasing grin.

"If we weren't already in the hospital, I would so get you for that," Troy warned him, although he couldn't muster the look that usually accompanied.

"Even though you're threatening me, I can still tell you're in a much better mood than last night," Terrance observed.

Rolling his eyes, he remarked, "Yeah, right. I start that stupid emotional counseling crap today."

"It's not that bad," Terrance assured him. "Dr. Reed is pretty nice."

"Maybe not for you," he said. "But, I'm not like you."

"You could be if you learn to be more optimistic," Terrance stated. "She's not that bad. Just answer all of her questions and you'll be fine. Don't make it hard for her because you'll only be making it harder for yourself."

"What does she ask about?" he asked.

"Depends really on each individual person," he replied. "She'll ask about family and friends, the usual. From there, she'll delve deeper to try to unravel any issues. For you, she'll probably wonder why you don't have any friends, but I'm sure after five minutes with you she'll know why that is without question."

"Ha ha. Very funny," he retorted sarcastically. "So, in other words, she's going to pry into my life claiming that it's _helping_ me? Well, if they want to help me, then they would leave me alone."

"And how exactly is being left alone _helping_ you?" he questioned.

"My dad has pretty much left me alone the last ten years of my life," Troy started. "And now I'm just fine."

"No," he argued. "Now, you're here, and you can't use your legs. How do you consider that _fine_?"

"Yeah, but so are you," he replied. "Look, we both have very different personalities, but we're both here in a hospital with limited or no mobility. You're handling it your way and I'm handling it mine. It's not like I'm going to go blow my brains out or anything if I don't see a shrink."

"You might," Terrence told him. "That's what happens to people like you who think they don't need help. But, then, one day, you'll wake up to realize that everyone who tried to help you is gone because you pushed them so far away, and they _won't_ come back. Then, you'll have no one, and being alone will get to you. That is what will lead you to suicide."

"Maybe for _some_ people," he argued. "I'm not that stupid."

"I'm glad you're getting the counseling. You really need it," he somberly replied. "Maybe Dr. Reed will teach you how to trust people. I think that's all it is for you is just one big trust issue."

"You don't know anything," he spat. Before another word could be said on the matter, a nurse suddenly entered, carrying a tray. After placing it on Troy's desk, the nurse left.

"Don't you get anything to eat?" Troy asked him, pulling the lid off of one of the dishes.

"I'm being fed through a feeding tube," he answered. "It's a lot easier for everyone that way. Sometimes, it's hard to swallow and they'd have to keep moving me around just so I could. Plus, that way, I don't have to taste the hospital food."

Gingerly, Troy stared at the food before him. It was times like these that he realized how fortunate he was. Terrance couldn't so much as sit up on his bed, let alone pick up a fork and start eating. Slowly, he moved his hand and picked up a piece of toast, all the while watching his hand. So many times had he taken that one little move for granted. It was so easy, so simple; yet Terrance would never be able to make that one little move again. It was bad enough that he couldn't move his legs; if he lost sensation in his arms, then he didn't know what he would do. Perhaps, just maybe, he knew what he was talking about. After all, he had been in the hospital months longer than he had been.

"Dude," Terrence started. "Can you do me a favor?"

"That depends," he replied.

"Can you turn on the TV and turn it to the CW?" he asked. "It's channel fifteen."

"All right," he agreed, grabbing the remote on his nightstand. Turning it on, he nearly choked when he saw the screen. "Maury? Are you serious?"

"Dead serious," he replied. "My former roommate and I used to watch it and take bets on the episodes that were paternity test results. I won a lot of cash from this show."

"I think that there's something seriously wrong with you," Troy commented, shaking his head.

"Hey, I don't have much of a social life now, and so this is what I have to look forward to," he defended. "It's actually pretty entertaining. This show is almost as crazy as Jerry Springer."

Sighing, Troy shook his head and tried to focus on eating. He tried to tune out what was happening on screen but found it nearly impossible. As much as he hated to admit it, it was starting to pique his interest. A twenty-year-old white woman had been cheating on her Hispanic boyfriend of two years with his cousin and didn't know which one fathered her three-month-old twin sons.

"Who do you think is the father?" Terrence suddenly asked as they showed the four on screen.

"They're cousins. How are you supposed to tell?" Troy blurted before he could stop himself. Mentally, he slapped himself for the blunder.

"I think it's the cousin," he said as though Troy had never spoken. "It's stupid the way these girls on the show cheat and then get knocked up and expect a pity party when they show up on the show, yet if a guy cheats and it ends up on Maury they're all over him like a pack of dogs."

"That's because girls cry around a lot more than a guy would if cheated on," Troy stated. "If my girlfriend cheated on me I'd tell her to hit the road and that's that."

"That's because you're a heartless fiend," Terrance replied. "But, there's a lot of guys out there with that mentality, I guess. Girls, at least on here, get really upset about it but a lot of them go crawling right back to the guy. It's like they don't feel they deserve a good relationship or think they're too weak to leave. It disgusts me."

"You know, I think you watch too much Maury," Troy stated. "You sound like a desperate housewife."

"It takes one to know one," he retorted, turning his attention back to the screen just as the woman ran off the stage in tears. "Oh, I knew it was the cousin!"

"Now I want to see the cousins have a parking lot brawl," Troy replied. "That would be the only entertainment coming from this show."

After that segment, several commercials flashed across the screen. One caught Troy's attention almost immediately.

"Life has a way of flipping you off," Troy repeated. "Amen to that."

Terrance chuckled. "Oh, I should've known that one would catch your eye. Hellcats: a show dedicated to college cheerleading, or just a bunch of girls in really short skirts."

"That's the only kind I like," he replied.

"So, if Gabriella showed up in a short skirt and some revealing top you would like her?" Terrance questioned.

Troy pondered that for a moment. "If it was the shortest skirt and the lowest cut shirt imaginable I still wouldn't like her. But, perhaps, if you put a muzzle over her mouth I would consider it."

"Dude, you are so mean," Terrance complained. "You have a smoking hot girl at your side everyday and you treat her like she's nothing. I bet, if she was your girlfriend before the accident, she would still be with you right now."

Only because she would be too desperate," he retorted. "My ex-girlfriend has a lot of options. She doesn't."

"I blame you for that," he replied. "But, you know, you're going to start counseling today. Maybe Dr. Reed can knock some sense into you."

The conversation dwindled as Terrance turned his attention back on the TV. Uncomfortably, Troy picked up his history textbook and started reading the chapter that he had to read before Gabriella came. She told him that she would be bringing a test on it when she came later. It was difficult for his mind to not stray to his conversation with Terrance. Was there really something he was missing about her, or was Terrance just a womanizer, he wondered.

Not long after, a slightly older nurse walked into the room, and Troy instantly knew what she wanted. He groaned, realizing it was the moment he had been silently dreading. From the other side of the room, he heard Terrance snickering.

"It's time for counseling, Troy," she told him, confirming his thoughts. Sliding the tray away from the bed, Troy pulled the covers off of his legs as the nurse helped him get into his chair.

"How soon will I be able to take myself to these therapy appointments?" Troy asked.

"As soon as you learn how to get around," she answered. "That's part of your physical therapy."

Upon leaving the room, Troy remained silent as he studied the path to the counseling area. It was on the same floor, and so he didn't need to worry about elevators. After a couple of minutes, the nurse opened a door and Troy found himself in an average-sized room with green carpet and cream-colored walls, which, combined, seemed to have a tranquilizing effect. Someone sat in a rolling chair behind the desk in the far corner of the room, typing rapidly on her computer.

"I have your next patient, Dr. Reed," the nurse stated as the woman in the chair turned to them after exiting the screen on her computer.

"Ah, you must be Troy Bolton," she greeted, smiling warmly at him as she stood up and shook his hand. "I'm Dr. Reed."

"Yeah, I got that," he retorted, studying her. At first glance, he assumed that she was only in her late twenties, but when she approached he noticed the few gray hairs standing out against her short, black hair, indicating early to mid-thirties.

"I'm getting the vibe that you don't want to be here," she stated.

"That's because I don't," he confirmed as she looked away to write something down.

"Then, what brings you here today?" she asked, her voice neutral. "Emotional counseling is only optional in your case."

"My dad is forcing me to do it," he replied.

"Why does he want you here?" she asked, keeping her eyes on him.

"He thinks I have problems," he chided. "Why else would I be here?"

"Troy," she started. "You're stuck here for an hour every other day for _at least_ the next two months. If you cooperate, then this should be a very easy next two months. If you try to fight me, then you're just going to make yourself miserable."

"All you're going to do is pry into my life," he accused. "That's all people like you are good for. I'm completely satisfied with my life right now, minus the fact that I'm stuck in the hospital. Once I'm out, I will be completely _fine._"

"Troy," she started. "If everything was fine, you wouldn't be in this room right now."

"I'm only here because my dad thinks I need it," he said.

"I notice you keep mentioning your dad. What about your mom? Does she think so, too?" she asked.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" he remarked. "You can find her at the Goldenview Cemetery."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she replied.

"No, you aren't," he remarked. "That's the kind of dirt you want to dig up on your patients."

"When I was nine my father died in a car wreck," she stated. "I know what it feels like to unfairly lose a parent at a young age."

"You have no idea how I feel," he retorted. "Don't pretend like you do."

"Perhaps," she said, seeming to contemplate his words. "Maybe we shouldn't start with your parents. Why don't we start off easy. Tell me about your friends. What are they like?"

"Oh, they're _great_," he answered, rolling his eyes sarcastically. "They're the _best_ friends anyone could ever ask for."

"I sense you have some ill feelings toward them," she noted. "Why?"

Staring at the clock, Troy sighed impatiently. He still had forty-five minutes to kill. Maybe she was right. Maybe he shouldn't try to fight her. Even Terrance warned him against it. Giving in was looking better by the second. "They turned their backs on me the moment they found out the extent of my injury."

"Why did they turn on you?" she asked.

"Because it's the way of life," he started, exasperated. He was sick of telling the same story over again. She was older than him; therefore, he felt she should know it better than him. "When you're popular, nobody can touch you. Nobody messes with you. When you're on top, you mess with everyone below you. It's like the food chain. And, now that I'm in a wheelchair, I'm no longer the captain of the basketball team, and I have no future. To them, I'm more less dead."

Dr. Reed pondered his words for a moment before speaking, "Did you _want _them to leave you?"

"I _expected_ them to," he said.

"Yes, but is that what you actually _wanted_?" she asked again, saying each word clearly and precisely.

Troy hesitated for a moment. No one had actually asked him that question yet. He pretended not to be bothered by them, but deep inside, he felt a slight pain jabbing at his heart as he thought about it now. "I...guess it hurts a little," he reluctantly admitted. "I mean, some of them I've been friends with since kindergarten and they haven't been to see me once since I woke up from the coma. The only one I have seen was my girlfriend, but she only came by to say that she was dumping me."

"So, you didn't want them to abandon you?" she implied.

"Uh...I guess not," he said quietly, looking down at the floor as if ashamed.

"It's okay, Troy," she said gently, as if reading his mind. "It's okay to admit that you don't like what they did. Anyone in your position would feel that way."

"It's not okay," he argued. "I'm not supposed to miss them. I don't need anyone. People are only good for letting each other down."

"How many people have come to see you in the hospital besides your dad and your ex-girlfriend?" she asked.

"No one," he answered automatically, but then he remembered Gabriella. "Other than my self-proclaimed _tutor_ who is _supposed_ to only ensure that I don't fall behind in my classes..."

"You seem irate when you mentioned your tutor," she said. "Why?"

"I never liked her," he said. "I don't even understand why she comes around unless it's to make me even more miserable..."

"I got a hold of some of your school records from your father," she started, pulling out a paper from the stack on her desk. "Before the accident, you had been suspended for assaulting and harassing a female student. By any chance, was she that student?"

"What difference does it make?" he countered.

"It makes a lot of difference," she answered. "Tell me why you resent her."

Troy hesitated, racking his brain for his usual list of answers. Finally, he remembered one, "She acts like she's perfect and never does any wrong. She acts like she knows everything, and now that I'm here she's been trying to pry into my business."

"How does she pry into your business?" she asked.

"She practically does everything that you're doing to me right now," he stated. "She acts like she really cares but she doesn't. She just wants blackmail material, I'm sure."

"What got you suspended wasn't the first time you bullied her, was it?" she asked. "Answer honestly. I have a strict confidentiality policy with my patients. Nothing you tell me can hurt you."

"Two years," he admitted, avoiding eye contact. "I've messed with her since she moved to Albuquerque two years ago."

"And, how do you feel now when you see her, knowing what you did to her?" she asked, her voice as impartial as it had been when she started questioning him.

"I...don't know," he said, shrugging. "I guess...looking back, sometimes I took it a little too far, like the last few stunts I pulled. I feel kind of guilty because she's able to act nice towards me. She was the last person that I thought would be seeing me everyday in the hospital."

"Do you think that maybe you don't like her now because you feel guilty when she's near?" she asked him.

"I guess it's a possibility," he admitted, glancing up at the clock again.

"Have you tried apologizing to her?" she asked.

Troy thought for a moment but soon realized that he had not. "No, I haven't," he reluctantly admitted.

Nodding, Dr. Reed scribbled something down on a notebook before turning back to him. "Do you think that apologizing to her would help to ease the guilt you feel?"

"I don't apologize to anyone," he replied. "It really isn't my thing."

"Normally, I give my patients an individual weekly assignment," she started. "For you, I decided to make that this week's assignment. Try to apologize to her, and focus on her reaction and the way I makes you feel. Then, when we meet again, we'll discuss it."

"I won't do it," he argued.

"Troy," she started. "I can't help you if you don't listen to me. Apologizing isn't so much for her as it is for you. The guilt you said you feel is there because you never gave it a voice. If you don't tell her, then it'll stay inside of you."

Grudgingly, he looked toward the door and spoke, "Fine. I'll do it."


	13. Chapter 13

AN: I'm really sorry for the lack of updates, I truly am. I encountered some writers block these last few months but everything is fine now and I intend to finish this story even if it kills me (let's hope it doesn't come to that) And thanks to those of you sticking with this story :) And please review. Otherwise, I have no idea whether you guys like it or not.

Also, this chapter is happening simultaneously with the one before it, only Gabriella-centric this time.

Disclaimer: HSM is still not mine.

* * *

It was late when Gabriella returned home. The streets were pitch-black and barren of people. Unlike her, they were smart enough to stay in doors. Many nights she had walked home after dark, but not this late. To make matters worse, she felt the weight of the bag on her right shoulder dragging a little lower each minute, weighed down by the work she had to complete herself.

_'It'll be okay_,_' _ she told herself confidently, although she knew there would be hardly any time for sleeping tonight. Most likely, she would be working through the night.

Curiously, she wondered if Troy knew the extent of everything that she was doing for him. Did he appreciate what she was going through just to help him, or did he even care at all? Probably not, she realized bitterly, kicking a small rock along the sidewalk in frustration. It didn't make any difference to him whether she was there or not. In fact, she wondered if he even cared about graduating at all.

_'He's dealing with a lot,' _she reasoned with herself. Perhaps if she kept on him, then he would eventually warm up to , at least, he had shown some progress as far as his hostility towards her. And, maybe even Terrance would help him along and make her life a little easier. After all, he definitely made tonight's session less tedious. If all else, she felt confident knowing he had her back, even though he couldn't move.

That was another thing she hoped that Troy would realize. Compared to Terrance, his injury didn't seem so terrible. At least he could go about his life in a semi-normal manner after a few months. Terrance, on the other hand, would be confined to a bed for the rest of his life. Troy still had a full life ahead of him, a bright one she was certain. She wished he would realize the gift he had been given, despite what had been taken away. _He had another chance_.

Approaching the front door, Gabriella braced herself for the worst. It was the latest she had ever come home and she was unsure of the consequences. Her parents would be furious, and she already knew that they were growing suspicious.

Just as she was about to open the door, the door suddenly flew open, revealing her frantic mother. Upon seeing her daughter, her worry soon shifted to slight anger.

"Mom," she started. "I'm sorry I was late. I completely lost track of time, and the student I was with needed a lot more help than usual. I-"

"You could've called!" she shouted, interrupting her. "I have spent the last two hours not having any idea where you were! You never even answered your phone!"

"I couldn't use it in the room I was in," she replied, biting her bottom lip nervously.

"Then why didn't you leave the room and call?" she questioned, exasperated. "Gabriella, what is going on with you? You're supposed to be the responsible one."

"I know I messed up, but I'm not perfect," she claimed, looking her straight in the eyes.

"And, you don't even say anything about the student you're tutoring," she continued as though Gabriella hadn't spoken. "How do I know that's even what you're doing?"

"Mom, please, I'm sorry!" she cried. "I know you trust me! I would never deliberately do anything to lose that!"

"Then tell me the truth," she said, her voice calm but firm.

"I told you the truth," she replied. "I'm just tutoring a boy after school."

"And who is he?" she pressed.

"Why does it matter?" she questioned. "He's just one student in a school of hundreds. They're all the same."

"No, they aren't," she disagreed. "You of all people should know that. He could be a drug addict or anything. They're usually the types who get assigned tutors."

"He's not on drugs," she denied. "It's just. . . a confidentiality thing. I'm not allowed to tell anyone according to the school. I could get in serious trouble if I mention his name or his progress. It has to stay between me, him, and his teachers."

"That's only within the school," she argued. "Just give me his name and I'll drop the subject."

"Fine," she started, looking her mother straight in the eye, making her voice sound as clear and firm as possible. "His name is Trevor Smith. He's a junior."

"Why couldn't you just tell me that?" she asked, her tone softening but still exasperated.

"I don't know," she replied, crossing her arms tentatively. "He just really doesn't want anyone to know he has a tutor. He's really ashamed. I feel bad for him so I'm trying to hide it from as many people as possible."

"Why is he ashamed?" she asked. "There's no shame in admitting he needs help."

"His reputation. Isn't that what it always boils down to?" she said, sounding more bitter than she intended.

"Ah, so he's one of those," she replied, nodding her head. "Be careful. He could be your next Troy Bolton."

_'Or he could already be Troy Bolton_,' she thought, absentmindedly biting her bottom lip at the mention of his name. "He's not that far gone. Although, I am worried because he cares so much about what other people think. I would like to help him realize that status isn't everything so he doesn't end up in his position."

"Well, I think you're a very good influence in that department," she complimented.

"Perhaps," she said, shrugging. "It's another reason why I'm so late sometimes. I tutor him, but I also try to talk to him about other things so he'll eventually warm up to me. But, it's difficult. He seems to have a lot of other issues besides academic deficiency."

"Just remember: you're his tutor, not his therapist," she told her. "You can't fix a person's every problem. I know you care for people, but you can't help those who don't want it."

_'I can't help those who don't want it,'_ she repeated in her head, feeling her stomach drop just a little. It was quite obvious that Troy didn't want her help, yet she kept trying anyway. Perhaps that was a reason why he was still so hostile towards her.

"By the way," she started, snapping Gabriella from her thoughts. "How has school been? Has anyone been bothering you?"

Gabriella hesitated. Coach Bolton seemed to have the bullying in check, but should she still tell her mother the truth? There wasn't any point in worrying her mother. She could deal with it without her involvement.

"No," she finally answered. "Things have been kind of . . . _peaceful_ now."

"Oh really?" she said, her eyebrow lifted slightly, as though she didn't fully believe her.

"Troy was my only real problem," she continued. "The rest never really bothered me before, except for Sharpay."

"Why didn't you tell me about them years ago?" she asked, exasperated. "We could've stopped it a long time ago."

"I don't really know," she replied, adverting her gaze. "I guess I just thought that I could handle it on my own."

"Gabriella, that's what your father and I are here for," she stated, firmly resting her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You can tell us anything. Parents are supposed to be there for their children. Otherwise, you wouldn't need us."

"Some things I just want to handle on my own," she replied. "I'm almost an adult. You won't always be there to fight my battles for me."

"Perhaps not," she agreed. "But, even so, you can talk to us at any time about anything."

Reluctantly, she nodded, forcing a small smile. "I know. Thanks, Mom." As much as she hated lying to her mother, she knew that lying, in this case, was better than admitting the truth. If she told her mother the truth, she knew World War three would break loose in their house. "Um, Mom, I have a lot of homework I need to do, so I'm going to my room. Uh, we'll talk later?"

_It was one of those rare nights when Gabriella was able to dream. She was in a beautiful meadow, wearing only a tank top and shorts, indicating it was summer. She sat on top of a large rock, seemingly alone, but she felt as though she wasn't. The sound of footsteps came from behind her, and she turned toward the person, somehow not at all surprised to see Troy Bolton standing there._

"_Certainly took you long enough," she said, standing as he came closer._

_He didn't respond, at least not in words. Instead, he kissed her as his hands rested on her hips, then traveled along her curves as the kiss deepened. Unbuttoning his shirt, her hands trailed up his muscular chest. An alarm seemed to go off in her mind, telling her that something was wrong, but she ignored it and stayed lost in the kiss of the man standing before her._

A loud buzzing sound was what woke Gabriella from the dream. Groaning, she slammed her hand down on her alarm clock and laid back down, breathing heavily. Her mind went back to the dream. Everything about it was wrong on so many levels. For one, it wasn't summer and she had never seen that meadow before in her life. Secondly, Troy would never walk again, much less would he ever be walking towards her. And third, there was no way those two would ever be making out, although the thought sent chills of excitement down her spine.

"Stop this, Gabriella," she scolded herself. Troy Bolton was her former bully, and as of late she had forgotten that. Regardless of how their relationship changed, some things had remained the same. He still hated her, he just wasn't in the position to show it as much. He still thought she and her friends were just a bunch of nerds. If not for the accident, he would still be bullying her. He would still be with Sharpay, and everything would be the same as it used to be. At least back then, she would never be thinking about the softness of his lips or the gentleness of his hands, roaming the sides of her body. . . .

Splashing cold water in her face, Gabriella did her best to rid herself of these thoughts. Still, the images of the dream remained etched in her brain, making it hard to focus on anything else.

Leaving earlier than usual for school, she hoped that either her friends or the wrath of Sharpay would be enough to get the dream out of her head. Still, she couldn't fight the dread that filled her more and more with each agonizing step forward.

_It's just another day, Gabriella. You can handle it_, she told herself, forcing her feet to keep moving forward. As she drew closer to the doors, she grudgingly removed her wig, remembering the entire deal she made with Sharpay.

"Gabriella." Turning around, she forced a smile as Taylor walked quickly toward her.

"Hi, Taylor," she greeted her friend, forcing a smile, although she seemed in too much of a hurry to notice. "Is something wrong?"

"I was wondering if you could come to my house after school to help me with something," she said. "It won't take long."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I already have plans for tonight," she replied, trying to keep her nerves at bay.

"I swear, it'll only take about half an hour," she pressed.

"Can't Kelsi do it?" she asked.

"She has rehearsals for the musical after school," she answered. "Please? I wouldn't ask if it wasn't urgent."

Sighing, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Tay. I can't cancel my plans. If I could, you know I would."

"Where have you been going every night?" she asked, changing the topic. "You've seemed so . . . distant lately. What's going on?"

"It's nothing. I just haven't slept much this week is all," she answered.

"You still didn't answer my first question," she said. "You can trust me, Gabriella. I'm one of your best friends."

"Yeah, Gabriella, _tell her_," the two girls glared as Sharpay started towards them, her heels clicking and her hand extended. "Homework, Montez."

Sighing, Gabriella reached in her bag and pulled out Sharpay's homework as Taylor continued to glare at Sharpay.

"By the way, I _love _your hair," she stated, smirking. "The patches look really suits you."

"Why do you let her get away with this?" Taylor asked once Sharpay was gone. "You used to not fear her. What happened?"

"She's blackmailing me," she replied, figuring this much was safe to tell.

"What could she possibly have against you without it being made up?" Taylor asked her.

"It's mostly the truth," she stated. "It has to do with. . .what I do after school."

"Tell me what it is and I'll tell you if it's worth Sharpay treating you like this," she pressed.

"No, Taylor," she replied firmly. "Please, I can't tell you."

Sighing in defeat, she gave in, "Fine, then. I'm only trying to help you out."

"I can take care of it," she assured her, making herself sound more confident than she really was. He truth was, she knew it would only get worse.

After school, Gabriella was to meet Sharpay at her locker to retrieve tonight's homework. The day had gone by with no real problems from her or the others, but she still felt just as miserable. Taylor barely spoke to her after their conversation that morning, and Kelsi was apparently siding with her, for she hadn't spoke to her much either.

As she got closer to her locker, Gabriella heard her voice from around the corner, her shrill giggles echoing in the hallway. "We'll get caught," she said.

"No teacher is going to turn us in," she heard Chad's voice and stopped, knowing it was best to make her presence known after he left.

Peeking around the corner, she was disgusted by what she saw. Sharpay was pressed against the locker as they kissed, and Chad's hands were up her shirt. Didn't it bother them at all that, just a few weeks ago, that would've been Troy in his place? Didn't Troy mean anything to either one of them? Of course, she already knew the answer to that. As far as they were concerned, Troy was dead.

Without thinking, Gabriella stepped out from around the corner and drew closer, not thinking twice about what she was going to do. "Wow, Sharpay, you got over Troy really quick considering how long you two were together. I'm glad you two never got married. What were the vows again? For better, for worse? In sickness and health?"

"What do you want, Montez?" she sneered, shoving Chad away. "Besides, Troy is fine. He's still getting some, remember?"

Ignoring the suggestive look on her face, Gabriella turned to Chad. "Troy was your best friend. You were like brothers. You should be ashamed at yourself for never seeing him once since he woke up."

"What do you care?" he snapped. "You hated him. You should be glad he's there."

"I wouldn't wish what he's going through on my worst enemy," she stated. "He's a human being, just like you and me. He deserves to have friends who will be there for him, especially when he's not on top of the world. You were always just along for the ride."

"Montez, unless you want the whole school to know your little secret, you better take my homework and go," Sharpay warned.

"No, I don't care if you tell the world about it," she stated. "I tutor Troy Bolton after school. Big deal. Who cares? Chad, his father is your coach. He worries constantly because he and I are the only ones who come to visit him. Troy doesn't really want me there, but he's learning to appreciate the fact that I actually care enough to help him. But, you're like his brother. He may not say it, but I know he wants you to be there for him, instead of making out with his ex-girlfriend."

"Montez, just keep walking. No one gives a damn about what you say," Sharpay remarked. "You can keep screwing him. I guess even nerds and cripples need some, too."

Shaking her head, Gabriella started walking away, but then she turned around and said, "I'm not afraid of either one of you. Spill my secret, add whatever twists you want to it. I don't care. If you want the whole school to think I'm fooling around with him, then so be it, because deep down you and I both know the truth. And the truth is, I'm the only one who is there for him whether he wants me there or not, even when the people he thought cared about him up and left him when he needed them the most, and that I am most definitely _not _ashamed of. Oh, and Sharpay, you'll have to find someone else to do your work for you. I'm done."


	14. Chapter 14

AN: Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it. I've probably changed the ending at least three times, and so I hope it's satisfactory. And as always, thanks for reading and reviewing :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Terrance.

* * *

_Hands shoved in his pocket, Troy stared ahead through the rain in determination as he headed toward his destination: the cemetery. For the past three and a half years, he had gone there every day, rain or shine. It was within walking distance of his house, and so his father didn't need to accompany him anymore. He preferred going alone anyway, for the solitude was his only comfort._

_Staring past the hundreds of graves, he instantly headed toward the one he knew by heart, the only one that mattered to him._

"_Mom," he started, stopping in front of her grave as he fought back tears. Over three years had passed but this never got any easier for him, knowing that this stone was all that was left of her._

_Taking a deep breath, he began to tell her about his day, like he did everyday, "I made the basketball team today. Although no one was surprised since dad is the coach of the varsity team. Still, I think I would've made it regardless. Chad, Zeke and Jason made it, too. I'd say this is turning out to be a great freshman year so far."_

_Taking a deep breath, Troy was silent for a moment before continuing, "I just wish you could be here to watch me play, Mom. I've gotten a lot better. I haven't broken any windows in a long time. You would be proud."_

_Troy chuckled at his own joke, but it came out sounding forced, nervous even. It was difficult to laugh and smile is a desolate place like this, and looking back at the grave sent a new wave of despair through his blood. Sighing, he nervously rocked on his heels as he continued, "So many things I wish you could be here, but I know you can't. You never will be again."_

_Looking away, he decided to change the topic, knowing that if he stayed on this subject he was bound to break. "Chad is thinking I should date Sharpay Evans. I don't know if I really want to, though. She wears too much pink and sparkles. It kind of creeps me out."_

_Another uncomfortable silence fell over him as he stared at the grave before him. A few teardrops glided down his cheeks, mingling with the raindrops that continued to fall endlessly. He tried to stop them, but they just continued falling faster and faster. Dropping down to his knees, he finally decided to stop fighting, knowing that it was useless._

"_Why?" he shouted. "Why did you do this to me? Why did you leave me alone to suffer? Why do you still torture me this way?"_

_His breath came out ragged and shallow, like it pained him to breathe. Sobbing, he threw his arms across the grave, his face falling on top of them._

"Yo, Troy, you okay over there?"

Terrance's voice snapped Troy out of his thoughts, forcing him back into reality. "Yeah, why?"

"You're clutching the rails pretty tight," he stated, and that's when Troy realized it, too. He had the bed-rails in a death grip, so much his palms were sweaty and his heart rate increased; his breathing was also abnormal. Focusing his energy on calming down, he finally managed to relax after several seconds.

"What's wrong?" Terrance asked him.

"It's nothing," he denied.

"Sure seemed like something," he replied.

"Everything is fine," he grumbled. Normally, people would have gotten the hint by now when he didn't want to talk about something. Unfortunately, he knew Terrance wasn't one of those people.

"Dude, you're really pale," he noted, ignoring his comments. "You know you can tell me."

"There's nothing to tell," he said. "Just leave me alone."

"Fine, have it your way," he replied, turning his attention back to the television.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Troy fell back against the bed, breathing heavily as he tried to relieve his tense muscles. He wanted to rid his mind of his mother, but he just couldn't shake the memory. That was the last time he visited her grave, three years ago. He didn't know why he was even thinking about it or about _her_ for that matter.

Raw emotions tugged at his heart as the scene replayed in his mind. Never before had anything or anyone broke him as much as he was in that moment. Only she had the power to tear him apart, to bring down his walls. He could act, put on a show for the rest of the world like everything was fine, but he could never fool her. Dead or alive she had the ability to make his facade come crashing down, like it was nothing at all. He hated her for that.

"Troy?" Once again, Terrance startled him from his thoughts, although he couldn't say he wasn't grateful for the distraction.

"What?"

"You seriously look like you're going to pass out," he observed, concern filling his deep brown eyes. "You should at least call for a nurse."

"I'm fine," he muttered. "Don't worry about me."

"Oh, so if you were over there, gasping for breath, I shouldn't worry about you?" he questioned. "Or, if a plane carrying a giant elephant accidentally dropped the elephant in your lap I still shouldn't care? Or, if-"

"Enough!" Troy snapped, glaring at his roommate.

"Oh, you're right. You're perfectly fine now," Terrance stated.

A tense silence filled the air once more, and Troy hoped it would last longer than the last. No longer was Terrance looking at him, which was a good sign. He had just turned over so his back was facing him when the silence was once again interrupted, "You know, you're never going to make any progress if you don't let other people help you."

"The only help I need is the help that will get me out of here," he replied.

"Oh really?" he questioned. "You let Gabriella help you."

"It's either that or repeat my senior year," he replied. "As annoying as Gabriella is, this route is still the less painful of the two."

"Don't complain," Terrance chastised. "At least she comes to see you. That's more than your _friends_ do for you. You shouldn't be so hard on her. She's making an effort, actually, a _gallant_ effort to like you. I don't know why she does seeing as you never appreciate it. You act like she owes you or something."

"She's the reason why I'm in here," he replied through gritted teeth. "I was suspended from school because of her. Had I not been suspended, I never would've been driving when I should've been in school."

"And why exactly were you suspended?" he probed.

Troy was silent for a moment as he remembered the events that led to his suspension. He didn't like thinking about it, for it made his insides turn. He didn't want to tell him what happened, but he knew he wouldn't leave him alone until he talked. Looking down at his hands, he said, "My ex-girlfriend and I. . . we almost drowned her."

Terrance's eyes grew wide in shock, soon followed by anger and disbelief. "And what did she do to deserve that?"

Shrugging, Troy didn't answer, but Terrance still got the message. "Uh huh, just what I thought," he said. "You have serious issues, man. I really don't know why Gabriella even bothers with you. Have you even once apologized to her?"

"No," he said, remembering his counselor's words.

"Dude, really?" he said, outraged. "I'm going to take a stab at this and say that isn't the first time you've physically hurt her."

"You're right," he admitted, refusing to look at him. Every scene of every time he ever hurt her or threatened her played out in his mind, each leaving him feeling guiltier than the last.

"No wonder you're here," Terrance said. "Your karma is terrible. You have a lot to pay for."

"Don't remind me," he groaned. "I think I've lost more than enough to make up for it."

"What you did wasn't right, you know," he stated. "Seeing her now, does it hurt you? Is that why you don't like her?"

"She's always sticking herself in my business, like you," he said, ignoring his questions. "I hate that."

"Troy," he started. "It's apparent that you don't know the difference between true friends and fake friends. You trust all the wrong people. Gabriella and I genuinely care about you. If you would just let us in, at least let her in, you might feel better. And, you know, the happier you are the easier it will be to get through this. Believe me, I know."

"Gabriella and her little nerd herd are probably kicking back laughing at me," he stated, adverting his attention from Terrance.

"She wouldn't be here if she was," he argued.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I don't like her."

"Are you sure it's her you don't like?" he questioned. "Or are you projecting your feelings for yourself onto her?"

"What the hell are you, a shrink now?" he snapped.

"No, but you know this will all come out in a therapy session someday," he said. "Maybe then you'll get it. I just hope it won't be too late and that you haven't blown it with Gabriella for good."

Shrugging, Troy replied, "People come into our lives and walk out, or, in your case, _roll_ out just as quickly. It's a part of life. That's why I don't care how few visitors I get. As soon as I graduate, I will never see Gabriella again. That's why I don't care how I treat her."

"Twenty years from now you'll be eating those words," Terrance warned him. "Maybe sooner. I don't know. But you'll realize one day that you let go of a perfectly good woman and left her believing that you thought she was scum of the earth, no matter how hard she tried. Can you really live with knowing that?"

"It doesn't matter," he said evenly. "She means nothing to me. She should believe that because it's the truth."

Something in the doorway caught Terrance's attention, and Troy looked to see what, _or who_, it was. As she walked into the room, Troy knew that she had overheard his last statement, just by her body language. Both boys stayed quiet as she walked between them, seeming to waver between sitting down or not. She must've decided not to, for she stopped walking and just stood there, obviously unsure of what to do.

A sharp pang stung at Troy's heart, and he found himself staring at her feet, unable to look her in the eyes. Maybe what he said wasn't entirely true. She did mean something to him. She wasn't his friend, but she kept him company. Seeing her everyday meant that he had one visitor. She was a reminder that he didn't have to be alone.

"Why do I even try?" Finally looking up, Troy met her chocolate brown eyes and noticed the hurt buried there, causing the pain in his chest to increase. What was wrong with him? He shouldn't be feeling this way, not towards her. He spent years making her feel miserable, and never once did he feel bad about it. It shouldn't be any different now.

"Gabriella," Troy started. "You've known this. What, did you think we would become best friends because of these circumstances?"

"No," she answered. "I didn't think we could ever be friends, period. I know you hate me, but I thought maybe you would appreciate someone trying to help you, but I guess I was wrong."

"Gabriella," Terrance interrupted. "Why do you even come here? Why are you trying to help him?"

Shaking her head, she turned to face him and spoke, her voice softer than it had been moments before, "I honestly don't know anymore."

"Come here," he coaxed. "Times like these I wish I could use my arms. I would be holding you right now."

Gabriella didn't reply, but Troy noticed that she wiped her eyes. It was shocking to him, for he didn't recall ever getting to her this much, even when he was trying to. She never let him get to her this much, and he felt instant regret, something he'd felt a lot lately.

Troy watched as she slowly reached toward Terrance and hugged him, being ever so gentle. Feelings stirred inside of him as he watched them. A small voice in his mind told him that it was _him_ who should be holding her, but he was quick to silence it. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ He silently cursed himself. He shouldn't be thinking about holding her, having her in his arms, the feel of her skin as he caressed her cheek, or the delicate feel of her lips pressed to his . . . .

_Stop it!_ He nearly yelled aloud as he rid his brain of such thoughts. He really needed to get out of this hospital, for daydreaming about Gabriella Montez only proved his desperation for a girlfriend.

"He doesn't deserve someone as good and kindhearted as you," he heard Terrance say, his voice barely audible but it was enough to snap him from his thoughts. Before he could continue on what he was certain was a _'Troy is no good'_ rant, he interrupted, not really thinking before speaking.

"Gabriella, I'm sorry."

Immediately, Gabriella turned to him, shock lighting up her face. "Wh-what?" she stuttered.

Sighing, he realized there was no getting out of this. "I said I'm sorry," he repeated.

"Why are you apologizing?" she questioned. "You meant every word. I never meant anything to you. You were right. Why would I expect it to change now?"

"Gabriella-"

"No, Troy, you don't have to say anything," she stated, and he could see the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "I'm the one who's sorry. I'm sorry for wasting my time and yours by trying to help you when I know it won't change a thing between us. I'm sorry for being stupid enough to care about you. So, you know what? How about I stop wasting our time? Here's your assignments for today-" She dropped the bag next to him on the bed. "And your dad will take them when you're done, and you can start figuring them out on your own."

"Gabriella, no-"

"I'm done here," she said firmly. "I'm tired of trying to help someone who's never going to change. I'm sick of trying to help someone who obviously won't accept it and never will. God, I was such an idiot, thinking you deserved someone in your life who cares about you."

"I just apologized for the first time in years. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" he snapped.

"Troy, this is about more than just today," she stated. "For years, I've had to deal with you treating me like scum. I never did anything to you to deserve that. And now, when I'm trying to help you, you still treat me that way."

"Gabriella, if you leave now. . ."

"Why do you even care?" she snapped.

Sighing, he answered, "I don't know. Just go now if you're going to leave. It's nothing new. Everyone else has already walked away from me. . . . You might as well, too."

Something shifted in her expression, and she stopped walking away. He wasn't sure what she saw in his eyes, but it caused her own gaze to soften, just enough for him to notice.

"Troy, do you really want me to leave?" she asked him, her tone neutral.

He knew he should've said _yes_, but when he tried to form the word, it refused to leave his lips. Instead, he looked down and didn't say a word.

Without another word, she started to leave again, but just as she made it to the door, Troy panicked and one small word escaped his lips, but he didn't think she heard him, for she never turned around.


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Hi people of the internet! I've returned from a torturous rough couple of months. Back in August my laptop decided to stop working and it took over a month to get it fixed and then I ended up losing some of what I had written of this chapter. But, my laptop is fine now and I'm hoping there's no more malfunctions anytime soon. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

"_No." _

Gabriella couldn't have been hearing right. It had to be her imagination. There was no way Troy Bolton could've just told her that he didn't want her to leave.

Yet, if he had, there she was, walking away like all the rest had. And all because he said she meant nothing to him. By far it was not the worst thing he ever said to or about her. It certainly wasn't enough for her to abandon him over. . . . Yet, something inside of her broke. She didn't know why, but she felt the overwhelming urge to break down and cry.

_No. _She mentally scolded herself. She would stay strong no matter what. She promised herself that she would never cry over him or worry about him ever again. Someone else would have to deal with him now.

"Gabriella." Turning around, she saw Jack walking towards her. She was hoping to avoid this conversation, but she knew it was inevitable.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bolton," she said. "But . . . I can't help Troy anymore. I just can't. His attitude towards me hasn't changed much, and it hurts because I do my best to be nice to him, but he hates me so much that he won't stop treating me like dirt. I can't handle it anymore."

"I'm sorry," he said gently. "Do you want me to take you home?"

"No, it's okay. I'll walk," she said. "You should stay with Troy."

Jack nodded, seeming a bit reluctant, but then he sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry about all this, Gabriella. I really thought that he would straighten up his act after everything that happened, but I don't think it'll happen."

"I-I really thought he could change, too," she said, looking down timidly. "Anyway, I better get going."

Hastily, she walked away, unable to bear being in the same building as Troy any longer. She needed to be alone with her thoughts, and after all that had just happened she had a lot to think about.

Something had happened in there, and it wasn't what typically occurred. Sure, he was a jerk, there was nothing unusual there, but how she had reacted was different. He got to her, there was no denying it. Never before had she allowed him to make her shed a tear. She gave him too much power and all he did was crush her. She shouldn't have grown so attached to him. What was she thinking? That he would change? She should've known better. Once a jerk, always a jerk. Nothing would ever change that.

Sighing, she kept moving. It was a long walk home, and her thoughts were hitting her at full force.

Had she made a mistake? Perhaps, but she felt that it was worth it. For years, she dealt with Troy constantly pushing her around and treating her like dirt. She needed to prove to him that things were different now. She was free of him. She didn't owe him anything. If anything, he owed her.

As for Sharpay, well, she would deal with the repercussions of her actions. She took a stand against her, and that was all that truly mattered. Her friends may not approve of what they heard, but she knew they would get over it.

Relief washed over Gabriella. None of it mattered. Troy didn't matter. Sharpay didn't matter. The basketball team didn't matter. Her parents didn't matter. And, Taylor and Kelsi didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that she was finally free.

* * *

"What the _hell_ are you thinking?"

Sighing, Gabriella averted her gaze to her locker as she put her books away, uncomfortable with the rage that seemed to radiate off of Taylor and the disappointment and confusion in Kelsi's eyes.

"You guys don't understand," she started. "Whatever Sharpay told you was probably a bunch of lies. All I did was try to help Troy keep up with his classes while he was in the hospital. Nothing more. It was strictly business."

"But why?" Taylor demanded. "Gabriella, he treated all of us like crap, especially _you_. You should be making his life miserable, not trying to help him!"

"And that would only make me as bad as him," she claimed, turning her gaze back to Taylor, not intimidated. "He needed help and no one wanted to help him because of his past. I should've said no, but I didn't because I feel that everyone deserves a second chance."

"But, Gabriella, _Troy Bolton_?" It was the first time Kelsi had spoken.

"You act like he killed someone," she said. "This is exactly why I never told you guys, because I knew you'd make a big deal over it."

"Well, did you think we'd be happy about it?" Taylor snapped.

"Look, it's my life and it doesn't involve either of you," she stated. "You guys think you know me so well, but the one time I do something that you don't approve of you're on me like a pack of wolves. But, if helping someone who needs it most regardless of who they are and what they did before isn't something you _approve_ of then maybe I need to find other friends."

"Yeah? Well anyone associated with Troy Bolton is no friend of ours," Taylor stated. "Come on, Kelsi."

Giving her former friend one last look, Kelsi hurried after Taylor. A pang of guilt surged through Gabriella's hurt but she pushed it aside. She did what she thought was right and they had no right to question her moral judgment. If they had waited long enough, she might have told them that she stopped helping Troy, but if they knew what had gone down it would only satisfy them even more and she wasn't going to let that happen.

"Having _fun_, Gabi?" Sharpay snickered from behind her.

Gabriella turned to her, her face wiped clean of all emotion. "If you think you can break me, Sharpay, you better think again because it's going to take a lot more than that."

"Oh, dear sweet Gabriella, I plan to do a lot more damage," she warned.

"You don't scare me," she said. "You can only make my life miserable if I let you and I won't any longer. You are _nothing_ to me."

"Oh, we'll see about that," she replied. "Actions speak louder than words."

With that said, Sharpay walked away, leaving Gabriella alone at her locker. A wave of relief washed over her but it didn't last long. What else could Sharpay be plotting? She already got her friends to hate her. What could be worse than that?

Gabriella's stomach tightened as she considered the possibility. She had the power to make the entire school hate her. Beyond that, she would humiliate her to the point she would have to change schools.

_No_, she thought, vigorously shaking the thoughts away. Sharpay wasn't allowed to push her that far, never again. _No one_ was going to push her to that extreme.

Two days ago, had any of this happened, she may have cried about it. After yesterday, however, she was much stronger, and grudgingly, she owed it all to Troy.

Had she not told off Chad and Sharpay yesterday, Sharpay would still be blackmailing her. Had Troy not said what he said yesterday, she wouldn't have gotten the wake up call, the one that said he wasn't worth wasting her time on. As for Taylor and Kelsi, she would've never been brave enough to tell them anything that she had just told them had Troy not been involved. In all, every time she had taken a stand the last couple of days, he had been there, either physically or in her mind. Maybe his ideas weren't so wrong after all.

Before yesterday, she was a coward, always following bullies' orders to avoid conflict, but now things were different. _She _was different. Troy taught her another valuable lesson, to not let anyone hurt her, because it only hurt if she let it hurt.

Troy had been right about something else, too. It was every man for himself. If she didn't put herself and her needs first, then she would be miserable. It was time that she truly started to feel happy again.

Still, there was that pang of guilt gnawing at her heart. Troy's philosophy, no matter how twisted it sounded, was right. And, for that reason, she shouldn't mean anything to him, just like he _shouldn't_ mean anything to her.

Yet, if he meant nothing at all to her, then why couldn't she stop thinking about him? Why was he constantly intruding on her thoughts?

She shook her head as if to rid herself of such thoughts. Sighing, she headed off to study hall, hoping that she could clear her mind before her real classes started.

* * *

"Wow, honey, you're home early today," her mom said as soon as she walked through the door. It was an odd change to be home so early. She was used to not being home until after dark.

"Oh, yeah," she said. "I'm not tutoring anymore."

"Oh?" she said, startled. "Did something happen?"

She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "He just doesn't need me anymore."

"Does that bother you?" she asked.

Gabriella struggled to keep her thoughts at bay. She vowed she wouldn't tell her mother anything that had gone down. She didn't want her to hate her like everyone else. She of all people would be upset that she had been lying and trying to help Troy.

"No, why?" she replied. "It gives me back my free time."

She shrugged. "I don't know. You have that look on your face, like there's more to it than that."

"There is," she said after a moment's hesitation. "But, if you don't mind, I really don't want to talk about it."

"Gabriella," she started, coming towards her. "This is exactly what got you where you were last time. You keep everything from me, and then when something really bad happens I'm astonished because I'm under the impression that everything is fine. We can't let what happened last time happen again."

"It's not that bad, really," she assured her. "It's nothing to be concerned about. My biggest problem is no longer a problem. It's just a bit of a backlash happening now, but I can handle it. I promise. I'm almost eighteen. You don't have to fight my battles for me anymore."

"I don't want to lose you," she said. "Gabriella, what happened with Troy and Sharpay, that was the most terrified I had ever been in my life. If they keep messing with you and taking it to that extreme, then next time you may not be so lucky."

"I wasn't dying, Mom," she stated, although her voice quivered as she thought about the incident.

"You were unconscious because too much water entered your lungs," she stated. "They were trying to _kill_ you."

Gabriella tried to make an excuse, anything to prove that what she was saying wasn't true, but she soon discovered there was no denying the obvious.

"Sharpay would've killed me," she started slowly. "But, I don't think Troy would've gone that far."

"Oh, don't even get me started with him," she snapped, shaking her head as if she couldn't believe what her daughter was saying. "That boy is nothing but trouble. He deserved what he got. I can only hope that someone treats him the way he treated you. Then maybe he would learn his lesson."

"I can't believe you just said that," she stated, eyes wide in disbelief. "Mom, no one deserves what he's going through, and no one deserves to go through what I went through."

"Why are you defending him of all people?" she questioned, crossing her arms, eyes narrowed.

"I'm not defending anyone," she denied. "Frankly, I can't stand him. But I wouldn't say he deserved it. I'm no better than him and he's no better than me. If I said I was better than him, then I'd be just as bad as he is."

Shaking her head, she gave her a once over before saying, "Only someone less than human would treat you the way that he did."

"It's not the worst he could've done," she said. "It's not like he raped me, beat me, any of that."

"That doesn't make it right," she stated. "Do you treat people like that?"

"No, but-"

"Exactly," she said.

Gabriella bit her bottom lip nervously. There was nothing more she could say without tipping her off and arousing suspicion. However, she couldn't stand there and continue to listen to her mother either. This conversation had to end now.

"Mom, can we not talk about Troy Bolton right now?" she asked, refraining from begging. "I have too much on my mind right now without adding him to the list."

"Fine," she said, sighing. "Someday you'll learn. Everything happens for a reason."

"I'm well aware of that," she muttered, heading toward her room. Once there, she closed the door behind her and let out a deep breath. Her mouth was getting her in trouble today. If her mother wasn't suspicious before she definitely was now.

If she was done with Troy, then why did she continue to defend him? He did nothing to deserve it, yet she felt compelled to do so. She wanted to bash his name, tell people all about how awful he was, but she couldn't do it.

"Get a grip, Gabriella," she scolded herself, shutting her eyes. Flashbacks of the last two years flooded her mind. She saw them all clearly, as if they had just happened. Every time he pinned her to the lockers, every insult, every threat, every prank. . . . Every time she heard his voice, every time he touched her, every time she looked into those gorgeous blue eyes . . . .Surely someone who was truly awful couldn't have such amazing eyes.

"No," she said aloud, her heart beating rapidly. She needed to stop thinking such thoughts, but once she started she couldn't stop. What was happening to her?


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Apologies as always for the delay. My laptop stopped working again, and before that I participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in which I had to write a 50,000 word story in the month of November. Somehow, I pulled it off. Now things are slowly going back to normal and I have time to work on my ffs again :)

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy :)

Disclaimer: you know how it goes.

* * *

_Troy wheeled through the school doors, some invisible force keeping them propped open. The students that had once feared and envied him now stared at him with gaping mouths. "What are you looking at?" he snapped at them, but they merely laughed._

_"Morons," he spat as he continued through the halls._

_"Don't pay them any attention," a honeysweet voice said from behind him, and then she stood directly in front of him._

_"G-Gabriella?" he stuttered, confused._

_"In the flesh," she replied, smiling warmly as she leaned down to kiss him on the scene was all wrong and he knew it. Still, he couldn't force himself to wake up, not was he trying very hard._

_"So, are you ready?" she asked him, pushing his wheelchair. He wanted to object but then he decided against it._

_"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied. Just then, he saw his friends, or the people who used to be his friends. They were all laughing and joking around, but as soon as they saw him they sobered up._

_"Well, look who it is," Zeke sneered. "It's the crip."_

_Chad walked up to him and bent over, looking him in the eye. "Not so tough now, are you?" He spit in his face and then slapped him._

_He wanted to punch him, kick him, anything that would hurt, but it was no longer just his legs that were paralyzed. His arms wouldn't work, either._

_He looked at Gabriella, feeling very much like a small child looking up at his mother for protection from the bullies, and for an instant Gabriella became his mother. She didn't protect him, however. Instead, she threw back her head and let out a sharp, shrill laugh. "That's what you get, Troy." With that, she walked away, leaving him alone with his tormentors._

_Compared to them, he felt tiny, like an ant they were about to step on. They drew closer to him. "No," he pleaded. "No! Stop! Come back! Mom, don't leave me! Gabriella . . . I don't want to be alone!"_

"Troy!" Terrance called out, watching as his roommate thrashed around in his sleep.

"No . . .Gabriella . . .don't . . ."

"TROY!" he yelled this time, hoping to get his attention.

Finally, the thrashing stopped and Troy's eyes slowly opened.

"Dude, what's up with you?" Terrance asked.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Troy said, wiping the sweat from his face.

"That's the second night in a row," he replied. "Are you having nightmares?"

Clearing his foggy mind, Troy tried to remember his dream, but it only came back in fragments. He remembered being at school, and his old friends were there and so was Gabriella . . . .

"You were talking in your sleep," Terrance continued when Troy said nothing. "You were talking about Gabriella, begging her not to leave you."

_Shit_, he thought. That was the last thing from his dream that he wanted to be said aloud.

"It was just a dream," he replied. "They mean nothing."

"But, Troy, the same thing happened yesterday as well," he said. "It must mean something. It's like your unconscious mind is trying to tell you things that your conscious mind will never fully understand."

"It understands perfectly," he replied. "It understands that you're a nutcase who needs to get his nose out of other peoples' business."

"I'm only trying to help," he claimed. "So, you miss Gabriella. What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't miss her," he denied. "I miss her like I would miss having the plague."

"No," he argued. "You miss her like you miss having the use of your legs."

". . . So, Troy, how have you been?"

It was day two of Troy's emotional counseling. Deena was sitting across from him today as opposed to behind her desk. In a way, the close proximity made him feel even more uncomfortable, for there was no desk separating them.

"Does it really matter?" he snapped. He was still grumpy from his dream last night and conversation with Terrance from that morning. He didn't need some therapist screwing with his head even more.

Sighing, she said, "I see you're going to be stubborn again today."

"I'm not stubborn," he stated. "I'm being realistic. You don't care. To you I'm just another patient. Why should it matter how I've been?"

"Something's bothering you," she noted, ignoring his statements. "Maybe we should talk about it."

"No, I don't want to," he quickly replied.

"Troy," she started gently. "You need to talk about difficult things. That's how you get past them."

"Fine. You want to know? Here it is," he snapped. "I'm tired of everyone pretending to care about me when they don't! I'm sick of everyone leaving me. The idea of being alone. . . it scares me."

He never intended to say that much but there was no taking it back now. Deena was clearly taken aback by his confession, but she nodded nonetheless. "Did someone else leave you?" she asked gently.

"Gabriella," he said, the name seeming to burn his throat, though it was out of hurt, not revulsion.

"Why did she leave?" she asked him.

"She overheard me telling my roommate that she meant nothing to me," he answered. "I didn't realize that it was a lie until I found myself begging her to stay, not to leave me. Right before she left, she asked if I wanted her to leave and I said no, but she left anyway. I even apologized to her like you asked me to do."

"This really bothers you, doesn't it?" she asked. "How would you say you feel about her now?"

"I. . . I don't know," he admitted. "I want to hate her, but I can't find it in my heart to anymore. The only person that I hate right now is myself."

"Troy," she started. "Do you remember what happened the day you first met her? Can you describe to me what happened?"

Sighing, he started, "I was. . . bullying another girl. Gabriella walked by and saw us, and so she came toward us. I had never seen her before in my life. She had just moved here and it was her first day of school. When I first saw her . . . I will admit, I thought she was beautiful, but I suppressed the thought. She didn't say anything, and so I started taunting her. Another girl grabbed her and pulled her away."

"So, you were attracted to her?" she repeated. "Are you still attracted to her now?"

"Unfortunately, yes," he said, looking down as if ashamed. "Everyday for the last two years I've been suppressing these thoughts. That's why so many pranks I pulled altered her physical appearance. I thought the attraction would go away, but it didn't. It never did. I thought I was better than her, and I had a girlfriend at the time. Still, I couldn't shake the feelings. So, I bullied her, hoping that it would remind me that I was too good for her, but now I see it was the other way around. She's too good for me. And now she'll always be too good for me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Her legs work." He hung his head, willing the urge to cry to go away. The admission brought on more emotions than he thought he was capable of. It wasn't just Gabriella; he could never stand to be in the presence of anyone who could walk, for they would always be above him. He couldn't handle that idea.

"Why does that make her a better person than you?"

"She can still live," he answered, looking at her as though it was the most obvious answer. "I'm eighteen and stuck in a wheelchair the rest of my life. I can't do the things I used to, and I can't be a normal teenager anymore."

"Troy," she started. "Being confined to a wheelchair may have its limitations, but it's not the worst thing that can happen."

"Well, I'll never get a girl again," he started. "And I can kiss college goodbye because I won't get my basketball scholarship. I can't even work in a fast food restaurant now. What am I supposed to do for the next fifty years?"

"There are still many opportunities available to you," she replied. "Have you ever heard of the _special_ Olympics?"

"You mean that crap Olympics for people who aren't good enough for the real Olympics?" he questioned. "Yeah, I think I'll pass."

Deena shook her head. "You need to learn to live with the disability, Troy. You'll be miserable if you don't."

He shook his head. "How can I learn to live with it if I'm confined to a hospital? It's suffocating me."

"That's why I'm here," she said. "I am here to make this experience as pleasant as I can for you. Which is why it's important that you also do everything you can to right the wrongs of the past, because it's the ones you push away that you're going to someday need the most."

"I don't need anyone," he replied, folding his arms. "Everyone leaves. I can't depend on anyone but myself."

"I respect your decision," she said. "But, I think you're going to regret it."

When the session was finally over, Troy hastily wheeled out of the room, nearly running into a nurse in the process, but he didn't care. He needed to stop thinking about the dream, but he couldn't. It was driving him insane. The feelings of loneliness and fear haunted him, flooding his mind so much he felt that he could hardly breathe. And, then, there was the feeling of regret that always lingered when Gabriella was around . . . . In the dream, he remembered crying out for her and his mother not to leave him alone.

He tried to admit it; he tried to own up to feelings of wanting someone to be with him. For so long he wished he was alone, but now that he was close to being truly alone he had trouble accepting the consequences. He tried to imagine it, at age twenty-five, living in a house by himself. It would only have one floor because he wouldn't be able to do stairs alone. The house was eerily silent except for the sound on wheels against wood-wood because it was easier to get around on than carpet. Everything he owned could be no higher than as far as his arms could reach which was about five feet. No one else lived here with him. No one ever called him. He never married and never had children.

That image wasn't terrible, he thought. He never wanted to get married and have children, anyway. And he hated phones, especially after the accident when one cost him his mobility.

He fast-forwarded again. This time, he saw himself at age fifty. His father was probably gone by now, and he tried to imagine his memorial service. Surely most people who were ever on his team would be there, including his former teammates. By then they will have probably forgotten who Troy Bolton even was, other than that he was their coach's son who couldn't walk. They wouldn't remember that he was ever their captain or his friend.

Everyone who ever met his father would probably be there. His father was a likeable and respectable man, after all. However, when he considered his own service, he realized that there wouldn't be a service. After all, if he pushed everyone away, there would be no one there to go to it. Hell, he knew that the only way they would ever even identify his body would be to find his social security number. That was right; with no one close to him he really would be just a number.

Just a number, he thought. Like the number on his basketball uniform. Anywhere he went that would be his only identification. There would be no one there to just call him _Troy Bolton._

The idea gave him an uneasy feeling. Could he really handle just being a number for the rest of his life?

So basketball star was definitely not a title he would achieve in his lifetime. That didn't mean that he was going to settle for the lowest title anyone could hold-_a number_. Suddenly, titles such as _son_, _friend_, _boyfriend, lover_, _husband, secretary, accountant, _and even _father _didn't sound so bad.

Maybe Gabriella was right. Maybe he didn't want to be left alone after all.

Pressing the elevator button a little harder than what was necessary, he rolled onto the platform and was just about to force it to close when a nurse joined him. He recognized her vaguely, but after a while all of the nurses had started to look alike. She pressed for the 8th floor which he knew from experience was the ICU. Perhaps she was his nurse on that floor.

"Troy, right?" she spoke, trying to make conversation, but he was tired of talking for one day.

"Yeah," he answered. "Why?"

"When you first came here, I was your nurse during the time you were unconscious," she explained. "Some of us thought you were never going to wake up."

That was news no one had ever told him before. "Why do you say that?" he asked.

"You're injuries were bad," she explained. "And not just your spine, either. When you first got here you were pretty messed up, full of blood, barely breathing. We had you on a ventilator for several hours. We were afraid to take you off of it, but the doctors ordered it."

He was floored. "No one ever said anything about that."

"Is this your floor?" she asked, pointing straight ahead, and, sure enough, the elevator door was open and almost ready to close.

The nurse kept the door open as Troy wheeled out, numbly.

_Ventilators? Almost died? _His father never revealed any of this to him. Why wouldn't he have told him? Surely he could've handled it. He wondered if Deena knew about this, and that made him wonder why she wasn't trying to delve into the near-death experience of his life.


	17. Chapter 17

AN: I hope everyone had a merry Christmas :) I decided to give you all a little present by not taking six months to update. I also have the next chapter started and the one after that pretty much finished. They should be up fairly soon. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

* * *

_It was the end of the second day of Gabriella's new life at her new school, and she was walking through the main hall to reach the buses. A taller figure bumped into her and knocked the books from her hands. Yelping, she scrambled to grab them, knowing that she couldn't afford to be late already._

_When she had gathered them she soon realized that she was missing her history textbook, but when she turned the guy who had bumped into her held it in his hand. "Looking for this?"_

_Her stomach knotted even in her dream. Troy Bolton had bumped into her, and she already knew how this scene ended._

_"Give me my book," she said, keeping her guard up._

_"Sorry," he mumbled and handed it to her._

_She was too dumbstruck to accept the book, and he gave her a puzzled look. "Is something wrong?" he asked._

_"Yes," she answered slowly. "You're supposed to hate me. That's what's wrong. You're supposed to shove me against the lockers and tell me that I'm scum, that the only way I would make it through three years at this school I would have to do everything that you tell me to do."_

_"Hate you?" he suddenly started laughing. "How can I hate someone I hardly even know? Especially someone as beautiful as you? And, I've never threatened anyone. Well, except maybe Chad after he stole my sandwich . . . .But, no, I think you have me confused with someone else."_

_Clearly, she was confused, and she didn't know what to make of him. "What-"_

_"Let's say I get to know you before I make up my mind about hating you," he said, giving her a crocked grin. "Though, I'm pretty sure that's impossible. How about dinner? There's a fairly new Italian restaurant that my mom loves. I've yet to go there, but how about we try it together?"_

_She tried to answer, but before she could he was talking again. "Is next Wednesday night good for you? It is? Excellent. I can't wait."_

_Unable to contain a little laughter, she chuckled and shook her head. "You are . . . something else."_

_"So, you're saying I'm different?" he asked. "Well, let me show you how different I can be. . .You said I was supposed to shove you against the lockers. . . ."_

_Before she could react, his lips were pressed against her, his hands locked around her hips. Indeed, he did have her pressed against the lockers, but not in the way she had anticipated. It felt so real that she could almost feel it. For a second she forgot that it was only a dream._

* * *

To be an overcrowded hallway, Gabriella felt as though she was the only one there. She might as well have been because while everyone else happily chatted with their friends, she walked alone, isolated from her friends, peers, and even from her tormentors.

No one knew what to think of her anymore, and, frankly, neither did she. It had been two weeks since her friends stopped talking to her, and two weeks since Sharpay or anyone else had tried to mess with her. Now, it was like she didn't even exist.

It was lunchtime, and while everyone else flocked to the cafeteria, Gabriella was headed the opposite direction, to her new eating destination. She sat outside the school not far from the dumpsters. It may not have been a sanitary choice but at least she was alone. No one would disturb her.

It was so bizarre, she thought as she pulled out her peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich. Less than a month ago she feared the idea of being alone. Now, however, she realized that being alone with her self-respect felt much better than if she would've groveled at her friends' feet for forgiveness for a crime she didn't commit.

They were wrong, she knew. They were the ones who couldn't let go of the past. They couldn't put their problems aside and help someone in need regardless of what that person did to them.

But then, she also gave up on _him_, but she thought that that was different. She at least tried to reach out to him, but it was impossible to help someone who didn't want to be helped.

_Stop thinking about 'him'_, she scolded herself. Barely an hour went by that he didn't cross her mind now, whether it was to wonder how he was, what he was doing, etc. The thoughts weren't helping her move on, nor were her dreams about him. Although last night was the first dream she had had of him in a week. But, this one was strange. It was a dream about the past, but different. That was far from how her second encounter with Troy went. He was actually sweet and charming, not the brute that she knew. Was the inner workings of her mind trying to tell her something?

She was reading too much into it, she thought. Dreams were simply just that-dreams. It didn't mean anything, as much as she wished that it did. She needed to stop obsessing over him and move on with her life.

However, what exactly was she moving on from? Troy was never her friend. Up until she left his hospital room he had always been her tormentor. She felt relief from the constant torture, but she also felt something else. What exactly it was she didn't know, but it wasn't a very pleasant feeling.

As she finished off her sandwich, she jumped in surprise upon hearing the sound of a door creaking open. No one as far as students and teachers should be there, however, and so she assumed it was only a janitor. Although, the voices that followed proved otherwise.

"Let me go!" a girl cried. The voice instantly brought her to full attention, for it belonged to Kelsi.

"Shut up, nerd!" Zeke sneered as Gabriella scrambled to her feet. The platform above her kept her hidden from them meaning she would've gotten away safely, but no matter how Kelsi felt about her she wasn't about to leave her there alone.

Zeke forced Kelsi to the edge, where a dumpster was right below them.

"Leave me alone!" Kelsi pleaded desperately. Zeke removed one of his hands, but it was only to turn her around to face her fate, literally.

There was no way Gabriella would stand by and let this happen. Without hesitation, she moved briskley up the steps until they finally noticed her.

Zeke stared at her, momentarily taking his focus away from Kelsi. Gabriella wondered what he saw when he looked at her, because his confidence seemed to waver just a little.

"Well, well, if it isn't Montez," he stated, smirking cockily.

"Let her go," she said evenly, never once taking her gaze away from his. She had a brief case of deja vu remembering her first meeting with Troy. It was similar to this, she recalled. She could picture it clearly, like it had just happened yesterday. The way Troy had looked at her, so full of contempt and a little surprise, just the way Zeke was looking at her now. Except, he lacked the power that trapped her that day. When Troy gave her this look, it left her speechless and barely able to breath. When Zeke looked at her this way, however, it just made her want to laugh and maybe even punch him.

Both times she had her freedom, she realized. Troy would've left her alone had she not stood up for Kelsi, and now she was once again risking freedom for her. She just hoped that it would prove to be worth it.

"Make me," he challenged, grabbing the smaller girl by the hair, causing her to shriek.

"Ow!" she yelped. "Gabriella, just go. I'll be okay."

"No," she said, pulling out her cell phone. Without looking, she pressed to record. "You make one more move," she warned him. "One more move and this is set to go straight to Coach Bolton."

Forcefully, Zeke shoved Kelsi away from him, sending her staggering on the edge. She shrieked as she couldn't regain her balance and fell in.

Zeke grabbed the phone out of Gabriella's hands and threw it against the ground. He stepped on it, obviously making sure it broke.

"It's too late. I already sent it," she said smugly.

"Bitch!" he roared and slapped her across the face. She staggered back and winced, instantly fingering her cheek which she knew would be bright red. Just then, the door opened again.

"Baylor, knock it off!" Jack demanded, his voice so harsh it even imtimidated Gabriella. He yanked Zeke by the arm, away from her. "You're coming with me right now." Then, he turned his attention to Gabriella and his gaze softened slightly, "Miss Montez, Principal Matsui will probably want you and Miss Neilson in his office as well, and so whenever you're ready . . ."

"We'll be there soon," she replied, but before she could focus on Kelsi, she realized that Jack hadn't come alone, for a fairly young woman who appeared to be in her early thirties had come with him and was standing idily in the doorway, watching her.

Answering her unspoken question, Jack said, "And, Gabriella, this is Dr. Deena Reed. She just wants to talk to you when you have a chance."

"Oh, okay," she replied, giving the woman a polite smile. She had no idea what a doctor would want with her, but she would have to find out momentarily. Kelsi came first. "I'll be right with you, but first I need to help my friend."

"That's fine," the woman replied, nodding dismissively.

Finally, she put all of her attention on Kelsi as she struggled to get out of the dumpster, apparently searching for something. Something appeared to be missing, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it . . . .

"My glasses," Kelsi said as if reading her mind. "I can't find them."

"Hold on, I'm coming in," she replied, swinging her legs over the ledge. Never once did she imagine that she would willingly jump into a dumpster, but now she didn't think twice about it.

Had she left Kelsi alone to find her glasses, she knew the girl would be there all day because she was practically blind without them. She supposed she could've walked away, given how she and Taylor were acting towards her now, but she knew she was doing the right thing. Maybe after this they would realize their mistake and talk to her again.

It didn't take much digging before Gabriella felt the small lenses. Pulling her hand out, she inspected her findings. They were dirty, but they weren't broken. "I found them," she told her as she examined them. "They're filthy, but if you come with me I'll help you clean them off."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I can manage."

"Kels, it's okay," she assured her. "You know me. I don't bite."

"I know," she said. "But, Taylor is still mad at you. I shouldn't be talking to you until it blows over. I'm sorry."

"No, I get it," she replied. "You do what you feel is right and I'll keep doing what I think is right."

Without looking back at the girl, Gabriella jumped out of the dumpster and onto the concrete.

"Gabriella," Kelsi started, but she ignored it. She knew what she would say, just a bunch of watered-down generic phrases that were supposed to make her feel better. But, she knew by now when she wasn't wanted, and Kelsi was being just like a nicer version of Troy. If she didn't want her help then she wouldn't receive it anymore. She wouldn't push herself on either of them.

The woman was still standing there where she left her, just a silent observer. As she approached her, she said, "Um, so, I don't really know who you are or what you want me for, but I should probably get cleaned up."

"I don't have much time. Mr. Bolton gave me a key to his office and said the locker room should be vacant," she said. "I just need a few minutes of your time, Gabriella."

Hesitantly, she nodded. "Um, okay. I'll just wash up after that, then."

Luckily, the gym was close to the door by the dumpster. Once Gabriella had gathered her belongings, she led the doctor through the school until they reached the boy's locker room. Before going in, she scanned the room for any signs of life, and after finding none, she knew it was safe to enter.

Surprisingly, Deena didn't sit in Jack's seat. Instead, she took the seat next to hers, both turning so they were facing each other.

"Well, now that we're alone, I can finally tell you why I'm here," she said, smiling slightly. "As Mr. Bolton told you, my name is Deena Reed. I'm Troy's hospital-appointed therapist. It's a pleasure to meet you, Gabriella."

The woman extended her hand, which Gabriella numbly took. Troy had a therapist? For some reason the image she was getting of Troy sitting in a counslor's office venting all of his problems greatly amused her and she did her best to suppress the laughter bubbling up inside of her.

"I didn't know he was seeing a therapist," she said, unsure of what else to say.

She nodded. "He's been my patient for two weeks now."

Suddenly, she felt uncomfortable. Should she really be discussing Troy with his therapist? "Um, I'm no expert, but isn't this a breech of confidentiality?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "This is a special case. Troy has no idea I'm here, and because he's still in high school he still has to have a legal gaurdian. His father approved of this idea. I just cannot disclose to you anything Troy tells me without his consent."

"Oh," she said. "So, um, what is it that you want from me? I don't know what Troy has told you, but I'm not tutoring him anymore. He made it obvious that he didn't want me around, and so I gave him what he wanted."

"I know," she said. "And, I understand if you don't want to do this. As I said earlier, I can't disclose anything he's told me, but I think it would be benificial for him if you would be willing to do this."

"I don't see how anything I do for him other than leave him alone could be considered beneficial," she said. "But, I'm listening."

"I need you to sit in on one of my sessions I have with him. Mr. Bolton approved of it, and I know how to get Troy to agree to it," she explained.

"But, won't he clam up?" she asked. "He won't want me there."

She shook her head. "He won't know. I have everything I need for this experiment worked out. I just need your cooperation."

"But, why me?" she asked. "Why do you have to use me?"

"Because," she started. "You still want to help him. If you didn't you would've walked out as soon as I told you who I was."

"But, shouldn't you get Sharpay or Chad?" she asked, although she knew that they would never do it. "Troy at least somewhat cares about them."

She gave her a smile, one of those smiles people give when they knew a secret no one else knew. "You'll see."

Gabriella heard a scuffling sound like shoes against tile, but the sound was only a murmur against all the thoughts clouding her mind. Surely after two weeks this therapist hadn't changed Troy, not when she couldn't. And, if that was the case, she couldn't stop the sudden jolt of jealousy she felt toward the woman.

"I'll do it," she finally agreed. "But, I just want to know one thing. How is he doing?"

"Well, I'm sure you know how he is by now," she said.

"I saw . . .a lot of hurt inside of him," she replied. "I so badly wanted to help him, but he just pushed me out of his life like he didn't even care. I was the only one even trying to make an effort and he just shut me out."

"The only side of Troy that you ever saw was Troy the bully," she started. "He was tough and intimidating. But, now he is much more vulnerable. Everything about him is."

"And, he wouldn't want me to see him that way," she realized. "But, that was never how I saw him. I never once thought he was weak."

"I can see that," she said. "He's lucky to have you on his side. He just hasn't realized it yet."

* * *

Cold water splashed across her face, once then twice. Gabriella knew she had to be dreaming. There was no way that anything that just happened could possibly be true. She couldn't really have just agreed to help Troy again, not this time. What was it about him that kept pulling her back in? She told him and herself that she was done with him. She told herself that she would never again force herself on him. If he wanted her help then he would have to come to her, not the other way around. She was tired of reaching out to him when he wasn't reaching out to her.

The cold water trickled down her face once again. It was then that it dawned on her that the last time she was in here was when Troy and Sharpay tried to drown her and ripped apart her clothing. She could still remember the emotionless stony expression on Troy's face. The way he looked at her then was exactly the way he looked at her every time he saw her, until her last moments with him. He hated her. At least he did. What had happened in those last few moments with him? What was that sudden change in his expression all about?

After splashing herself one more time, she looked in the mirror and was startled by the image before her. It wasn't her face staring back at her. It was Troy's face, and it revealed every dark and stormy emotion a person could have. Suddenly, she had an overwhelming urge to reach out and hug him, but after blinking a couple of times the image vanished and it was her face looking back at her once more.

She sighed and shook her head, although she couldn't shake the image of his desolate face. What was that image all about? Why did he look so sad? Troy Bolton never looked _sad_. But, then, she had never seen him happy, either. In fact, she didn't even know if he was capable of cracking a smile that wasn't sarcastic or sadistic.

Deep down, was that how Troy felt? Were those emotions she had just witnessed in the mirror actually all of the emotions that weighed him down on a daily basis? They were real, and somehow she knew it.

She tried to convince herself that how he felt wasn't any of her business. It wasn't her responsibility to make him feel happiness. In fact, she doubted that anything she did could ever make him happy. But, then, the dream from last night came back to her. Flashes of his expressions entered her vision, how warm and kind he looked and acted. He was so sweet to her there. It pained her to know that he would never treat her that well. But, something else was different. It bothered her because she couldn't quite place it. It was something that he said and the way he said it. Determined, she tried to recall what he had said in her dream. It didn't take long for it to hit her.

_"How about dinner? There's a fairly new Italian restaurant that my mom loves. I've yet to go there, but how about we try it together?" _he had said.

"My mom _loves_," she repeated aloud, trying the words out. He had said _loves_, not loved. _ That_ was the difference.


	18. Chapter 18

AN: As always, sorry for the lack of updates. I finally got a new laptop since my old one kept crashing. But, also, I've been devoting most of my writing time to a couple of original stories I really hope will go somewhere someday. If you're at all curious you can shoot me a message and I could tell you a bit more. I don't intend to post them anywhere, unless I post a snipit here and there to my tumblr. The one I more recently started, if you like this story then you'll most likely like it.

But anyway, thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_This is it, Troy thought as he heard heels against tile. Shaking with nerves, he watched as the blond drew closer to him._

"_Hello, Troy," Sharpay cooed. "How were try-outs? Did you make the team?"_

"_Oh course he did," Chad said, slapping him good-naturedly on the back. "It's the rest of us who have to worry."_

"_Oh, well, congratulations," she replied, placing her hand on his arm. "Wow, your arms feel amazing. You must be working out."_

"_Well, yeah, I kind of have to," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. Just then, he felt a small pinch on his back and instantly turned to Chad._

"_Do it now," he mouthed._

_Nervously, Troy turned back toward her and said, "So, um, I was wondering if you would like to go to the dinner Friday night that the JV team is throwing once everyone knows who made the team . . . um, you know, with me . . . as my date."_

* * *

It had been weeks since Troy had seen the world outside of the hospital, and the moment he stepped out, the Albuquerque sun was almost blinding. Squinting a little, he looked down as he wheeled himself toward his father's car.

It might have only been for one day, but he felt like he was leaving prison. The sun room did the real sun and fresh air no justice to the real feel of it.

Once at the car, Jack stood in front of him and hoisted him out of the chair in a slightly awkward way, but it was his first time ever having to do this. Troy knew that he would have to deal with this for the rest of his life, and just the idea of it made him cringe.

Once he was in, he immediately reached for his seatbelt. Usually, he didn't care if he wore it or not, but after the accident he knew better than to take it for granted again.

"So, are you ready for this?" Jack asked him, starting up the car.

"How busy do you think it's going to be?" he asked, evading his question.

"Well, it's Christmas time," he started. "It's probably pretty busy."

He groaned. "Troy," Jack started before he could speak. "I know you don't want to have to face anyone, but you're going to have to sooner or later. Would you rather see a few class mates now or face every single one of them for the first time when you go back to school? You know it's going to have to happen."

"Can't I just drop out?" These words slipped out faster than he could process what they implied, and it took him a little surprise, but then he went with it. "I mean, I'm failing as it is, and it's only getting worse by the day. I know that if I go back I'll just end up repeating my senior year, and there is no chance in hell that I'm going to do that."

"You're giving up too easily," Jack said. "You have six months to get your grades up. That's plenty of time. I won't let you quit."

"I'm eighteen, that's not your decision to make," he snapped.

It is as long as you're living under my roof," he said. "If you think you can make it on your own, then you go ahead and drop out. I can get a GED."

"No," Jack said. "You've come all this way. You're not going to just throw it all away now."

"Dad," he started dryly. "Look at me. I can't walk. There's no basketball scholarship in my future. What else was high school good for? Making friends that just stab me in the back?"

"You almost had a friend right in front of you," he replied. "You just looked in all the wrong places."

Troy wanted to say something, but no words would come out, for he knew that he was right but would never admit it.

Jack was right once again.

The mall was packed, and although he had just been happy to leave the hospital he suddenly wished he had never left. They would've had to walk for a mile had Jack not found a handicapped parking space toward the front, and full realization of what he was going into hit him once again.

Once in the mall, Troy put his hands over Jack's, signaling that he would take it from there. It was one of the ways he was keeping up the strength in his arms by pushing himself around for a certain amount of time each day. Not only was that giving him exercise, but it was also getting him out of his stuffy room.

"If you don't mind I want some time alone," he told Jack.

"But, Troy, the doctor said you aren't to be left without supervision," Jack argued.

"Screw what he said," he replied. "I'll be fine. If I need you, I have a cell phone."

Jack looked like he was about to protest, but then he just shook his head. That little signal was enough for Troy to speed up.

There wasn't really any store that Troy particularly wanted to go into. His main goal was to avoid attention, which wasn't happening. Everywhere he went people were staring at him as if he was an alien. It was unnerving, not to mention he felt like an outsider.

Before, when he went out, people treated him like any normal person, with the exception of school. He might attract the attention of some young women, but that was it. Now, he felt like all eyes were on him.

Making his way to the food court, he figured he would grab a bite to eat to pass the time. Before he could so much as think of what to get, however, he saw _them._

Chad and Sharpay were seated on the bench making out, completely unaware of his present. Anger boiled inside of him, but he was surprised that jealousy wasn't a part of it. From her, there was a sense of betrayal, but not jealousy. He didn't love Sharpay, nor did he even care if he ever saw her again.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Chad and Sharpay pulled apart, shock lighting up their faces. Obviously they hadn't expected to see him so soon. That was his advantage. "Why, it's my _best friend _and my girlfriend – oh, oops, I mean _ex– girlfriend_. You know this feels like a scene in a really cheesy movie. Usually, though, the betrayed friend would break his friend's jaw. In this case, though, I'll just give you a smile and a nod. You have my blessing. It takes either a strong man or a complete idiot to put up with the most cold – hearted bitch in Albuquerque. I'm guessing you're the latter."

"Bolton, you watch your mouth!" Chad snapped, making a move closer to him.

"And what if I don't?" He challenged. "We all know your bark is worse than your bite. Danforth, you're all talk and no action. If my dad made you captain then he was a fool."

There was violent rage in Chad's eyes, but it was him who spoke next.

"Oh, Troy, you are so amusing," Sharpay said. " Have you forgotten already were your _actions_ got you? Notice which of us three is confined to a wheelchair."

"Yeah? Well, I was on my way to see _you_, the Kiss of Death," he said, smirking. "The sex I would have received wasn't worth a second of this. Remember that, Chad, because you're her latest victim."

"At least I'm not so desperate for it I'm getting it from the ugliest girl in town," Chad retorted.

"Good for you," he said, clapping sarcastically. "Congrats, dude. Neither am I."

"You know who he means," Sharpay smeared. "We know you're seeing Gabriella Montez."

A wave of protectiveness toward Gabriella flooded his insides and she wasn't even there. He never wanted her name brought into this conversation, and suddenly he wanted to defend her, even though it would interfere with his plan. He wanted to stay on the offensive.

"I'm also seeing a doctor and about ten different nurses of the day," he said, rolling his eyes. "You act like we're in middle school. Oooooh, I saw Jimmy kiss Molly by the water fountain! Alert the media!" He rolled his eyes again. "Get real, Sharpay."

She scowled, but it was Chad's turn to speak. "Look, crip. Why don't you just wheel back over to your bodyguards before you bite off more than you can chew?"

"I must say I'm very disappointed," he replied, mock hurt. "You're afraid of a guy in a wheelchair? I thought you would take on anyone at any time. Well, prove it."

For an instant, Chad's confidence wavered, and that was all Troy needed. "Just as I thought," he started, shaking his head in disgrace. "Typical. You can sneak up on people and strike when they're not looking, but when someone stakes a challenge you can't do it, and it will show on the court. You're not cut out to be team captain. So I hope you have fun losing. And I will be there sitting on the sidelines thanking God that you were never in charge of me."

Chad's jaw was clenched as tightly as his fists. Troy thought this was it. He thought he pushed Chad far enough to get the reaction that he wanted. But instead, Chad leaned forward, and then Troy had an eerie sense of déjà vu. In his dream Chad had come this close, and then he spit in his face. He wouldn't let that happen _ever._

"Yeah because you're such a good leader yourself," Chad spat. "It's obvious that you have horrible decision making abilities. Otherwise you wouldn't be in a wheelchair."

"Even in a wheelchair I can still kick your ass." Troy's fist instantly met Chad face. Chad reeled back, obviously not expecting that. For a moment it looked like Chad might actually strike him, but Sharpay grabbed him, restraining him.

"Save it," she warned him. "You can get arrested here for beating up someone in a wheelchair."

Chad looked like a bull who had just seen the color red, but he heeded Sharpay's words and backed off. Troy smirked, knowing that he won the battle.

"Come on, Shar. Let's get out of here. Let's go some place where there's not so many crippled losers."

"Yeah, go ahead and leave, because walking away is your specialty," he spat. It looked like they were going to retort, butjust then his father came into view. Troy smirked, knowing that he was victorious.

By the time Jack came up to Troy, Chad and Sharpay were out of sight, but Troy knew that he had seen what was going on.

"You weren't just about to start a fight, were you?" Jack asked him, eyeing him suspiciously.

"It's better if I start it instead of him," he replied, shrugging it off. "I just gave him a fair warning that when we get back to school they're not going to push me around."

"So, does this mean you will return?" he questioned.

"Only so I can make their lives hell," he answered. "Anyway, I'm starving. What's-"

Suddenly, another person came into view and he dropped his sentence. Just several feet away from them inside the bookstore she stood. Something about her looked vaguely familiar but he wasn't quite sure what it was about her. Slowly, he moved closer, just as she started to speak, "I swear, my daughter must be the only teenager on the planet who wants college prep books for Christmas."

An image passed through his mind, _a memory_. He remembered being reamed out by principal Matsui when that very same woman entered his office. It was obvious that she had come from work, and it was just as obvious that she had been crying.

_For the briefest moment, her eyes had met his, and to this day he couldn't help but shiver from the amount of hatred and anger she processed in that gaze._

_"Where is she?" she demanded._

_"Nurse's office," the principal replied. "Across the hall." Without another word, the woman had fled the room._

Maria Montez, he realized. Gabriella's mother. He didn't want her to see him, but before he could roll out of plain sight she turned and met his stare.

Surprisingly, none of the fury and anger was in her eyes now, just cold detachment. It was a step in the right direction, he thought.

"Dad, go on ahead of me. I'll catch you later," he said, only briefly tearing his eyes away from the woman.

He felt compelled to speak to her, and so he met her as she was leaving the store. "Mrs. Montez," he greeted her.

"Troy," she said, guarded. "What you want?"

_So much for politeness_, he thought. "Is Gabriella with you?"

She seemed surprised by this question, but it soon turned hostile. "After your actions you have no right to speak to my daughter."

"I know," he agreed. "I just really want to tell her that I'm sorry. I want to tell her that I regret everything I ever did to harm her. And, I apologize to you and your husband as well for how all of this has affected you."

She was definitely speechless now, but he barely gave her a chance to speak. "I know you don't owe me anything, but if you could, could you let Gabriella know that I would like to apologize to her properly in person?"

"You almost killed her," she said. "I will never forgive you for that, and neither will she."

"I swear to God I would've never killed her," he denied. "And, in all the time I've spent so far in the hospital she was the only person besides my father who came to visit me. I didn't realize that I cared until she stopped coming around."

"What?" she said, and he wondered which part of his statement surprised her. "When has Gabriella gone to see you?"

"She tutored me after school almost every day until a couple of weeks ago," he explained. "Didn't you know that?"

"No," she answered. "She lied to me."

Troy looked down, feeling uneasy. He knew he shouldn't feel guilty; after all, how was he to know that Gabriella was keeping this a secret from her family? He just hoped that this little revelation wouldn't cause her too much trouble.

"Don't be mad at her," he told her. "She just wanted to help me, and I'm grateful for it. But, I realized that I needed her after it was too late."

"No, I'm mad at _you_," she said, and he noticed her hostility rising. "Before you came along Gabriella never lied to me. Now, she's lying, sneaking out of the house, keeping secrets, and God only knows what else."

"It's not my fault," he denied. "Maybe it's no one's fault. Maybe she's just growing up."

"Just because you have poor raising doesn't mean that those are signs of growing up. She was a good girl, Troy," she said, crossing her arms.

"And, where has being good gotten her?" He demanded. "If she had started acting like this a long time ago then maybe she wouldn't have been such an easy target for me."

This comment made her so angry that he thought she was going to slap him, not that he expected any less. "You need to just stay away from my daughter. If I ever hear that you came anywhere near her, then I will not hesitate to get a restraining order against you. Is that clear?"

"I think that's her decision to make," he said. "You just bought her college prep books, not children's storybooks, so take your pick: is she a child who needs you to hold her hand while she crosses the street, or is she an adult fully capable of making her own decisions?"

Troy knew that, if there was some invisible line, he had probably crossed it the moment he opened his mouth, but now he figured he was dangling off of a cliff. The amount of rage in her eyes was enough to cause him to back up a few inches. He knew that he shouldn't have ever approached her, but he was trying to do the right thing, no matter how stupid of a mistake it turned out to be. Oh well, he thought. He only had one last thing to tell her.

"Troy, I don't think that it's any of your business," she said curtly.

He shrugged. "I know, and it doesn't matter. Look, she walked away from me. She made that choice to stand up for herself. You should at least know that. Enjoy your holidays, Mrs. Montez."


	19. Chapter 19

Gabriella stared at the sliding doors in front of her. Never before could she remember feeling this nervous in her life. Somewhere inside the building was Troy Bolton, the one person she wanted to see most and least.

Coach Bolton had dropped her off from school, even though it was halfway through the school day. It didn't bother her, for it just meant less time to spend being reminded that even her friends hated her.

She hadn't seen much of her mom the last few days, either. She was working odder hours than usual with Christmas being so close, but even when she was home with her she hardly spoke to her. Again, it was normal, but she sensed there were reasons behind it now. She had been almost afraid to ask what was wrong.

Just inside the door stood Deena, waiting patiently for her. She hadn't noticed her yet, but when she did her eyes lit up and she strode over to the doors. Taking a deep breath, Gabriella willed herself to enter the hospital, and the plan was set in motion.

"It's nice to see you again, Gabriella," she greeted as she led her past the lobby and to the elevators.

Since their last meeting, they had talked on the phone to make the arrangements. She could hardly believe that it was happening so fast.

Several floors up, the elevator stopped and they exited. "The rooms we'll be using aren't far from the elevators, so if you need to use the bathroom or something you should be able to find your way back," she told her. "But, if you need to leave, I would suggest doing it now because he'll be here in about twenty minutes."

"I . . . should go," she said, and so Deena showed her the room to come back to, and then she showed her to the restrooms.

Inside, she headed to the mirror and removed her wig. Her hair was really short and she still had several bald spots, but it was getting better. She hoped to have her hair back to normal by graduation. Fumbling in her purse, she pulled out a tube of lip gloss. She wasn't sure why she wanted to look good in a hospital, but something about seeing Troy made her want to appear presentable.

When she was done, she walked down the hall to the room where Deena showed her. Upon opening the door, she realized the room was more like a storage closet. Instead of a wall, glass separated this room and the one to the left of it. She could see straight through to the other room, but she knew no one could see her.

Taking the seat, she stared through the glass. Only Deena was present, and she sat at her desk drinking coffee and writing in a notebook. She watched the clock as the minutes ticked by, her anxiety growing by the second until the door opened.

Gabriella watched as Troy wheeled into the room, and her nerves kicked into over-drive. Through the glass, she had a full view of him and she could hear everything they said. Even with the distance, she could still see the dullness in his usually electric blue eyes and even a little paleness to his skin. Overall, he looked disgruntled, like maybe he wasn't sleeping properly.

"So Doc, what's on today's agenda?" Troy asked, his usual sarcastic demeanor in place. Regardless of what Gabriella saw on the outside, she knew the truth about him. This was his mask he was hiding behind. Soon, however, she knew he would be vulnerable. She would see the real Troy Bolton.

"Today, I thought we talk some more about what's bothering you now. Gabriella." She watched him tense as he closed his eyes, shaking his head. She was stunned, almost as though she could feel his internal reaction. If she meant nothing to him, then he wouldn't have reacted this way.

"What else is left to say that hasn't already been said?" he stated. "She's out of my life for good. She walked away. I'll never speak to her again. What else is there?"

"It's obvious that she still has an affect on you."

"I told her that I was sorry for the first time in two years and she still walked away. I didn't expect any less, but I can't help the way it made me feel," he admitted. "I wish she didn't try to help me, then everything would be back to normal. Her name would never cross my mind."

"Troy, let's try a little exercise." Gabriella gulped, knowing what was coming next. "Focus on any place in the room and imagine that she's standing there. Say everything that you wish you could tell her."

"That's stupid," he said, although Gabriella sensed his unease behind his disgust. The way he stared at the ground proved it.

"How about if I leave the room for a few minutes and then we can discuss it?" she suggested. "And, I'll know if you don't do it."

Troy stiffened, then finally looked at the woman. "Fine, I'll do it, but only if you leave."

"Excellent." Deena stood and left the room. Troy hesitated for a minute then looked up. Gabriella watched as he shifted uneasily, then he stared straight ahead, right at her. For an instant she panicked, thinking maybe he somehow knew she was sitting there, but that was absurd. She knew he couldn't see her.

"So, I'm supposed to pretend Gabriella is a wall," he started, chuckling. Then, he straightened up and his amusement faded. "Well, Gabriella, are you happy now? You should be satisfied. You were right. It's not good for anyone to be alone. I don't want to be alone. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but, among all the things I am, I'm not a liar."

Sighing, he continued. "Which brings me to another point. I said you meant nothing to me. I really thought you didn't, but, when I watched you walk away that day, I finally realized that you actually did. Somewhere along the way, I stopped hating you. I don't even know why I hated you at all. I guess. . . I guess I was a little jealous because you were so smart and so confident when I met you. I felt that I needed to bring you down, make you feel how I felt inside. That was wrong, Gabriella." Then, as an added thought, he said, "I was wrong."

Tears filled Gabriella's eyes as she listened. There was no way he could be lying, not when he thought he was alone. She wanted to just open the door and throw her arms around him, but she had to stay put, for he wasn't done yet.

"I never told anyone this, but ever since I first saw you, I thought that you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. That still hasn't changed. I tried . . . altering your appearance, hoping to rid myself of the attraction, but it didn't work. I still think you're the most beautiful girl I had ever seen."

There was a pause and she thought he might be done, but then he continued, "If I could have another chance, I just want us to start over, like the past never existed, but I know that's impossible. There's no way you could trust me not to hurt you again, and I don't blame you. I may be spilling my heart out right now, but I'm still a complete dick. You deserve better than that."

Shaking his head, he averted his gaze to the floor as he spoke, "I don't know what else there is to say. I just wish you were really here to have heard that, because there's no way I could say all of that to your face."

As if on cue, Deena walked back into the room and sat down. Troy seemed relieved for the exercise to end, but Gabriella sensed the tension surrounding him. It was impossible for her to wrap her mind around what she just heard. Did he really just say she was beautiful and that she deserved better than him? Just last week she thought he still hated her.

"So, how was it? Do you feel any differently?" she asked.

"I guess I feel better," he admitted. "I just wish I could've actually told her some of those things."

"You just told her everything." Troy's face paled. Deena turned directly to her and said, "Gabriella, you can come in now."

Shaking, Gabriella stood and walked out of the room. Closing her eyes, she slowly opened the door, unsure how Troy would react to her presence. When she walked in, however, he wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was yelling.

"These sessions are supposed to be private and confidential! How could you do this?"

"Troy, I can assure you that it was to help you," Deena stated.

"Troy." Finally, he looked at her, and his expression changed. He didn't speak, but he didn't have to. Taking a few steps closer to him, she continued, "Troy, I care about you. I still want to help."

His shock turned to anger in an instant. "You don't give a damn about me. If you did you would've accepted my apology."

"If I didn't care then I wouldn't be here," she argued. "And, what you said completely blew me away. I never knew that you felt that way. And, you're not a complete dick. There's so much more to you than that. What I saw in there was not the Troy Bolton I'm used to. Your guard was down and you were vulnerable. I wish you would let your guard down for me more often."

"Oh why? So you can go to school and tell all your friends that Troy Bolton thinks you're beautiful? That he actually wants you around? Is that it?"

"You know I would never do that," she stated, coming closer until she was next to him. Gingerly, she got down on her knees in front of him, thankful that he couldn't kick her, not that she thought he would regardless.

"Listen, I know you didn't mean it when you said I didn't mean anything to you. The truth is, you mean something to me, too." She knew he couldn't feel it, but she placed her hand over his knee and watched him stiffen. The move must've caught him off guard, she thought, continuing, "I know you're afraid of abandonment; I may have left you once but I won't do it again no matter how hard it gets."

When Troy didn't respond, Gabriella sighed and said, "You can say something, you know."

"I don't think I can do this," he admitted. Gently, Gabriella took his hand in hers and caressed his knuckles. At first he tensed, but he soon relaxed.

"We'll work on it. We can be friends, Troy, not just a tutoring relationship. Just let me be there for you, please?"

He sighed. "I don't know." Moving her hand, she caressed his arm, secretly taking in the feel of his muscles. The only times she noticed them were when he had he had her pinned to the wall. Now, she wondered how these arms would feel wrapped around her in an embrace.

"Troy, you and I are more alike than you think," she started. "I lost all of my friends because they found out something about me that didn't fit their image of me. You lost all your other friends for the same reason. We're both put under a lot of pressure to be the person everyone expects us to be, but we can't let them define us anymore. By not opening up and accepting me, you're letting your stereotypical jock behavior interfere, but it's not who you are anymore. You're Troy Bolton now."

He had been staring at her hand the entire time she'd been speaking, but when he met her gaze again, she knew by the look in his eyes that his universe had shifted. His walls were down, and she saw it in his eyes that he didn't want to fight anymore. Bravely, she grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, surprised when he returned the gesture.

"I've given you every reason to hate me, yet here you are," he said, looking at her admiringly. "I don't know if you're stupid or dedicated."

"Maybe I'm both," she stated. "So, do you really think I'm beautiful?"

Troy's face reddened and she giggled. This felt so natural to her. Regardless of their past, she felt comfortable in his presence, like they were just a boy and girl, nothing more. The past didn't matter. That occurred between Gabriella the nerd and Troy the jock. Just Troy and just Gabriella didn't have a past.

"Y-yeah, I really do," he replied, looking away in embarrassment. After regaining his composure, Troy reached out and touched the wig on her head, sending off an alarm in her mind, causing her to retreat. "Just relax," he assured her, tugging at the wig again. Looking down, Gabriella was in a panic. She didn't know what he was doing, but after he removed the wig, he studied her for a long moment and touched a place on her scalp where hair hadn't started growing yet. "Even now, like this, you're amazingly beautiful. But, I'm so sorry for doing this to you."

"You didn't do this, remember? The old Troy did," she stated. "Clean slate. It's better that way."

"Thank you," he said. "I'm glad you can overlook all that I did to you."

"I'm not overlooking it. I'm forgiving you," she said. "I won't forget, but I won't hold it against you."

"See, Troy? I told you this was for the best." Gabriella jumped, for she forgot that Deena was still there. She watched Troy's reaction, but he no longer looked hostile. Instead, for once, he seemed calm.

"Does this mean this session is over?" he asked.

Deena nodded. "Yes, because, from what I understand, you have a ton of school work to catch up on."

* * *

AN: I'm back! Miss me? I just wanted to let you all know, while I was on hiatus, I worked almost every day from February 13th until today on something new. It's an original story and it's totally finished (shocker there, right?). It's the one I mentioned in my last note. I decided to temporarily post it on fictionpress to get some feedback. It's over 30 chapters long, but I'm not sure yet how much I'm putting online. It depends on how many readers I can get for it. I posted the link and summary in my fanfiction profile, so please check it out if you're interested. I know with this story, if you like it you're probably going to like Never Forget because I borrowed a few concepts. Oh, and staring at an old poster of Zac Efron with black hair may have inspired the appearance of my protagonist. And, for those of you familiar with my writing, yes, it is pretty dark. Anyway, now that Never Forget isn't consuming my every thought quite as much, hopefully I can get the next chapter of this story up soonish. I have some of it written . . . somewhere. It's all a matter of finding it. But, anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed :)


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